Xander Quest

by Throwaway1971

All credit goes to the OG author Judge Mental on SB

300. The End (of the Eighth Year) Has Come! 8

Given her current attire and what you know of her history - personal, familial, and more exotic - you almost describe Altria's behavior as chivalrous.

Then it occurs to you that you can't recall that term being used around Zelda, much less explained to her, at any point in recent memory.

Rather than set yourself up for an extended explanation of that topic, you just say, "She's being a good winner, and giving an opponent she's pretty much beaten a chance to give up rather than get hurt more."

Zelda frowns. "But... it's a DRAGON, not a person."

While you've been talking to Zelda, Aquamentus's eye narrows as it glares at Altria.

"Are you mocking me, whelp?" it hisses.

Altria doesn't move overtly, but something about her posture suggests surprise. "No, I-"

"Do you seek a reward, then, for your 'mercy?' Because you will receive none, and you would not, even if this were my true body, and not some construct of magic."

"No," Altria repeats, more firmly this time. "I do not. Now answer the question, dragon," she adds, pressing her blade against its neck hard enough to be felt even through the scales. "Do you yield?"

Aquamentus exhales sharply, and with great reluctance, replies, "...yes."

Altria withdraws her sword, and backs away.

The dragon sits up, causing your instincts to cry warning, but in spite of that, it doesn't attack, instead content to glare balefully down at Altria.

"I will remember this," it warns her.

Gained Draconic E (Plus) (Plus) (Plus)

"I would expect so," she replies, helmed head nodding formally. "I look forward to our next meeting."

Then that Trial ends.

Altria has to take a quick step to steady herself when, instead of solid stone, she finds herself suddenly standing on sand. She's not in a desert setting, however, but another large chamber with stone walls. Unlike previous rooms of this sort, the current one isn't rectangular, but more octagonal; in addition, instead of being covered by runic wards, most of the walls bear large carvings that look rather like picture or window frames, only made from stone and with no images inside.

Altria's horse is just a couple of steps behind her, next to a large double-door that takes up most of one side of the octagon. On the opposite side of the room is the only other wall to lack one of those stone frames, which instead has a large sun-like symbol carved on it, quartered by a squat, cross-like symbol and with illegible symbols - rendered so as much by the wear of ages as by their uncertain origins - scrawled about the inner circumference.

After checking on her animal, Altria orders it to stay put and proceeds towards the center of the chamber, helmet turning slowly as she searches floor, walls, and ceiling alike for the monster she knows must be here somewhere.

As such, when the patch of the ground near the door bulges upwards and begins to move forwards, leaving a furrow of sand in its wake, Altria is not taken by surprise. She steps clear of the passing entity, which proceeds past her, all undisturbed, before pausing near the far side of the room.

And then a huge black-armored scorpion bursts from the sand, brandishing massive claws with... ew... great staring eyeballs housed at the base of the snapping pincers. These eyes - the only ones visible on the monster's entire body - stare at Altria for a moment as she levels her blade.

Then the beast shrieks.

THOUSAND-YEAR ARACHNID: MOLDARACH

Your first impression is that this is perhaps not quite as impressive a match-up as the dragon Altria just fought, but as the two opponents circle one another - the Moldarach with its claws snapping eagerly, and heavy stinger twitching back and forth as it hangs overhead - you start to see where some of the challenge for the fight comes from.

The sand that covers the floor, while reasonably well-packed, is still somewhat loose. Each step Altria takes kicks up a bit of dust, and the giant scorpion's much larger and more numerous legs do far more than that, generating a low-lying but almost continuous cloud of sand about the monster as it moves. That lack of truly solid footing detracts from Altria's usual graceful footwork, affecting her entire fighting style.

That part is illustrated when she takes a few experimental swings at her opponent, and her sword bounces off the hard exoskeleton without leaving so much as a scratch. She might still be able to smash through, but it would require more effort to do so than it did with Aquamentus - and given the Trials are an endurance match as much as anything else, that wouldn't be good in the long run.

So, rather than waste her energy trying to breach Moldarach's hard shell, Altria does the sensible thing and targets its visible weak points. Located as they are between snapping claws that alternate between open and shut at a moment's notice, the bulging eyes are not the easiest to hit, but Moldarach needs to keep at least one of them open at all times to see what it's doing, giving Altria openings to use.

To its credit, the monster is clearly aware of its vulnerability, and it actively guards whichever eye is "open," trying to keep that limb close to its body while the other lashes out, smashing, snapping, or just jabbing forward. The tail also gets used, be it as sweeping bludgeon or stabbing stinger.

Despite that, it's really more a test of patience and accuracy than anything else. There are only so many ways the huge bug can defend its soft spots, and once Altria has seen it use those, she starts anticipating Moldarach's moves.

Several blows later, one eye goes dark, and the whole limb behind it EXPLODES.

This leaves the screaming arachnid at a major disadvantage, for now it must keep its other eye open, with only the tail to defend it. Moldarach tries to compensate by snapping its claw open and shut rapidly, but this only buys it a little time before its second limb is destroyed.

Shrieking angrily, the monster dives back into the sand, and begins moving about underground.

THIS causes Altria some honest consternation. The only part of Moldarach's body that it exposes is its tail, which pops up in different parts of the room to stab in the girl's direction a couple of times before disappearing back under the sand. A swarm of white-shelled scorpions about the size of large housecats also begin crawling out of the sand and marching towards Altria, waving their stubby claws in a manner that tries to be menacing, but would honestly be almost cute, if not for the single, staring eye that dominates the "face" of each little arachnid abomination.

You can't help but recall your encounters with the Gohma.

Altria smashes through those without issue, but has to break off playing exterminator a couple of times when Moldarach's tail pops up behind her, trying to exploit the distraction.

After about a minute of this, something in Altria's posture changes. Her grip on her sword changes, and you see air begin to stir around it - and then, motes of flame.

When Moldarach's tail pops up next, it's greeted by Altria's personal take on the Sword Beam. The attack STILL explodes, but this time - maybe because she's finally had enough practice to work out the basics, maybe because she's just angry enough to MAKE it work, technique be damned - Altria manages to direct most of the explosion towards her opponent.
Yes! When all else fails, use Fire! Good girl!
Moldarach screeches as its tail is wreathed by red-hot flames. Sand erupts in all directions as the monster thrashes in pain, accidentally exposing itself in its anguish - and in so doing, revealing the large red eye on its face, no longer covered by the armored lid that it previous kept shut.

Altria LUNGES for the target, jets of sand blasting off the ground in her wake as she rockets forward on a plume of mana.

Impaled through the eye and whatever brain lies behind, Moldarach's thrashing takes on a fatal finality.

A monster explodes, reality spins, and Altria and her steed are deposited in another field under a cloudy blue sky. While not entirely unlike the location where they encountered the Bullbo Riders or the Stalfos, the terrain is visibly rougher; there is a deep river gorge not far away, spanned by a stone bridge, and beyond that, the lush grass quickly dies off, leaving rocky hills that rise towards the mountains.

No doubt recalling her earlier battles in the grasslands, Altria quickly moves towards her horse. This proves wise, as she's no sooner mounted than a porcine bellow echoes over the field - deeper, louder, and altogether more intimidating than the aggressive squeal of the Bullbo, though still not entirely dissimilar.

When Altria and her horse turn to confront the incoming challenger, they see that the similarities to the Bullbo Riders - as well as the differences from them - are not limited solely to the mount.

The Bullbo is a true monster of its kind, easily twice the length and four or five times the sheer mass of the previous one. The thick, curved tusks that jut from its maw are matched by great sweeping horns above, which could just be part of the heavy armor that covers the brutal boar's back, but might well be natural growths. Eyes that burn like hot, angry coals squint at Altria and her horse as the fat, powerful pig stomps closer.

The rider is equally impressive. While clearly related to the Bulblins, he is in every way their superior, from simply being twice as large in every physical dimension - if not more so - to wearing solid armor, a horned helm which matches his steed's, and carrying a heavy-bladed axe. Most concerning is the cunning intelligence that shines within the rider's eyes as he studies Altria, and then brandishes his axe at her with one meaty hand in a clear challenge.

"I've come to play!" he growls eagerly.

DEMONIC GOBLIN WARLORD: KING BULBLIN AND KING BULLBO

"The bacon lives!" Sokka shouts in glee.

King Bulblin proves to be a much better fighter than his apparent minions, not merely in terms of sheer brute force, but also of technique and tactics, to say nothing of quality of weaponry. Not for him, crude clubs and bows that could break from a single strike! No, that axe-head was forged steel, well-used and well cared for, and its haft was thick enough that it could have been an entire young tree, pulled from the ground and stripped of limb and root. King Bullbo, too, is every bit worthy of his title, displaying a ferocious power that earns a grunt of approval from the Raging Boar, and a sheer stubborn toughness that treats sword blows as mere annoyances.

Gained Axe Training F

Despite those considerable improvements, the pair lag behind their lesser kin in one significant manner: maneuverability. King Bullbo is too large to turn well even at a walk, much less once he'd built up speed, and while he can and does keep pace with Altria's horse, it's quickly made clear that he's no match for the smaller animal's agility. King Bulblin, in turn, relies on his heavy armor, parrying with his weapon, and smashing his enemies into paste first, because his thickly-built body is just too big to dodge well.

It takes several passes, not to mention taking advantage of King Bullbo's tendency towards tunnel vision to lead it headfirst into some of the low-lying stone walls that dot the field-

You can't help but wince in sympathy at some of those collisions, particularly how they send King Bulblin flying over his mount's head, screaming all the way to the ground.

-but eventually, Altria scores an overhead blow that snaps one of King Bulblin's horns off.

The goblin lord pauses, reaches up to test out the damage with one hand, and then slumps in dismay. "Why is it always my horns?" he sighs.

His depression leaves King Bulblin open long enough for Altria, who once again showed her chivalrous tendencies by dismounting to fight her unhors- that is, her unboared opponent on foot, to bring her blade to his throat and ask for a surrender.

Unlike Aquamentus, King Bulblin has no problem yielding right off.

Gained Goblin F

...oddly enough, boar and rider don't disperse into motes of energy when beaten. Instead, after King Bulblin hauls his girth back into his massive saddle, they ride off towards the horizon.

There is an expectant hush as half the audience turn to Sokka at this point.

Arms folded, the Water Tribe boy nods and sagely declares, "I am okay with this."

Altria seems rather pleased by the outcome herself.

When she ends up in another room with a sand-covered floor, she lets out a curse.

"I heard that, young lady!" Lucia declares.

Altria twitches, as if having heard the parental admonishment.

Or maybe she was just reacting to the sight of her next opponent rising from the sand. Its central body is a huge flower bud, over ten feet high and twice that across, supported atop a tangle of tentacle-like roots. At four equidistant points around the hulking mass are large, circular bulbs, which open in a manner akin to Venus Fly Traps to reveal slavering maws full of sharp thorns and caustic drool, each large enough to swallow a grown man without a trace or make a good effort at gulping down a horse. As if that weren't enough to worry about, the snapping jaws begin to extend on vine-like stalks.

VENOMOUS EVIL-TENTACLED TREE: MANHANDLA

Altria stares at the vegetable menace for a moment, and then snaps her left hand forward, making a fist.

Fire erupts from her outstretched arm, and you take a moment to enjoy the warm satisfaction of seeing her use the Dragon's Breath Gauntlet.

When the flame clears, revealing a largely unscathed monster, that warmth fades somewhat.

---

Zelda takes in your words thoughtfully.

"'Con-ver-sa-tion,'" she repeats, sounding out the word carefully. Then she gives you a sharp look, asking, "But not just 'talk?'"

Clever girl.

"A conversation is two or more people talking with each other," you explain. "One person says something, the next person answers them, and then either the first person answers THAT, or a third person gets in on it. Like we're doing right now, see?"

"Uh-huh," Zelda replies.

"Or if I was to say something," Briar adds helpfully.

"Just like that," you agree with your partner. "Now, some of your dolls can say things, but they only say the same things over and over again. That might be a kind of 'talking,' but it's definitely not a 'conversation.'"

Also, Zelda's dolls aren't people; you and Briar have checked VERY carefully to make sure of that, and to root out any potential possessions or other non-people issues. Even so, your sister might argue the point if you bring it up, so you just don't.

The appearance of each new Hyrulean monster has prompted a certain degree of murmuring among the audience, with tones of interest, excitement, and concern all mixing together. Manhandla's appearance introduces something new: protest.

"Even the PLANTS, now?" Tatsuki bursts out, before she looks in your direction. "Alex, how screwed-up IS this fairy kingdom that Briar comes from?"
Hey! It's not that bad!
Every fairy in earshot, including Briar and Navi, bursts out laughing. Even Koron is giggling.
...most of the time, anyway.
Madam Lanora crosses her fins and makes a sound of annoyance. "Hryule is NOT that bad, young lady!" Under her breath, she adds, "Most of the time..."

Elder Terok and Batreaux, meanwhile, just look kind of grumpy.

The battle in the Ring does not stop for conversation, of course.

After seeing the relative ineffectiveness of her recent gift-

You spare a moment to wonder if you should have made the Dragon's Breath hotter, or maybe gone for acid instead of flame.

-Altria looks around again, taking in the size of the sand-covered chamber (fairly significant), how much of that space the Manhandla occupies (an unfortunately large amount), and also how far its jaws can reach on their vine-like necks (an equally-unfortunately long way).

Reaching a conclusion, she guides her horse to a corner of the room, dismounts with a quick command for it to stay put, and charges back at the shambling green mass that is - despite its complete lack of anything resembling eyes - already approaching them.

Two of the mouths are close enough to reach out and bite at Altria as she charges. She dodges the first, letting it eat sand instead, and gives the other one a taste of steel that has it recoiling with a hiss of pain. That one hit seems to give Altria an idea, because she follows up with a series of decidedly-experimental strikes, each one against a different part of the Manhandla's body: the outer edge of one "jaw"; the "neck" of another; a sweeping slash against the tentacle-roots; and then, with a bit of climbing, a hard blow to the main body.

The blow against the body rebounds with complete ineffectiveness, deflected by the Manhandla's heavy outer skin. The attack on the jaw is a little more successful, as - lacking the sheer bulk of the core - it gets smashed away from Altria; it doesn't seem to actually be injured by the strike, however, just forced out of position.

Altria's attacks on of the Mandhandla's various appendages go a bit better than that. Neck, arm, branch; whatever the proper term is for one of the limbs supporting those jaws, it had to trade in some of the almost metallic rigidity of the Manhandla's hide in order to be flexible enough to do its job. This leaves the vine-like length vulnerable to being cut, although doing so is still not easy. Just by dint of how large the Manhandla is and how high up on its body those four growths sprout, Altria has some trouble reaching the necks, except for a few seconds right after one of the jaws has snapped at her. When her blade does connect, the thickness of the growth prevents her from cutting through all at once; in addition, the way the neck recoils from her strike robs the attack of some force, resulting in even less damage.

To add insult to the lack of injury, you can see the gash starting to heal.

As for the roots, they're easier to reach, and with the mass of the whole monster bearing down on them, they're also much less prone to bouncing away from a strike. Altria cleaves several off in one swing, causing a thick green sap-like substance to ooze from the wounds. The Manhandla, however, hardly seems to notice the damage, beyond focusing as many of its jaws against Altria as it can; it has legs to spare by the dozen, if not by the hundred, and like the damage to the neck, you can see the severed tendrils beginning to heal.

Gained Sunder F (Plus) (Plus) (Plus)

All of this just seems to confirm something for Altria, who focuses her efforts on hitting the interior of the biting plant-heads. In short order, she's done enough damage to cause one to fall limp and lifeless, dragging through the sand in the Manhandla's wake as it pursues its target. The predatory plant responds to these offenses by spitting a barrage of what looks like seeds from its remaining heads, but Altria evades most of the projectiles, and what hits she does take from the unexpected nature of the attack are partially absorbed by her armor.

Expelling so many seeds in such a short time seems to drain the Manhandla somehow, because its heads are left hanging in place in the wake of the onslaught, almost looking like they're panting from the exertion.

This makes them rather easy targets for Altria, and she's put down a second head and injured a third before they have a chance to recover.

You can see what Altria is attempting, but you're worried that she's taking too long to put down all four jaw; the first disabled head has stopped oozing completely, and is already starting to twitch in a manner that suggests it's on the verge of recovery.

Altria notices that as well, and intensifies her attack against the injured head. The Manhandla doesn't appear to be bright enough to try to defend its weak points, or perhaps, because of their rapid healing, it doesn't feel the need to; regardless, Altria puts down the third head quickly.

Then she surprises you and her opponent by ignoring the last head - which is once again spitting seeds at where she was standing a moment ago - and racing towards the rapidly-recovering first head, which is starting to rise from the ground.

"HAAA!"

She hits it with a great, two-handed overhead swing, wielding her sword more like an axe and going for the base of the "jaw" where it attaches to the "neck." With the limb caught between blade and the floor, it takes the full force of the hit, and the Manhandla SHRIEKS as that head is severed entirely, leaving the neck to flail around, spraying thick green slime all over the place.

THAT kind of injury is going to take a lot longer to heal, if it can do so at all, and Altria makes good use of the time to prune the remaining heads.

Perhaps because of all the "blood" it loses before its decapitated limbs finally clot, the Manhandla's movements slow each time a head is lopped off; on top of that, the bud of the main body starts to slowly open, gradually revealing a soft, fleshy interior and a glowing red core.

Altria needs no further prompting, and goes for the obvious target.

She doesn't manage to finish the Manhandla off just then; its powers of regeneration are formidable enough that it makes up for the fluid loss, re-pressurizes its interior systems, and forces the bud closed once more. Clearly not wanting to get stuck inside where she'd lose all space to strike, much less maneuver, Altria leaps clear and finds that, in what must have been a massive sacrifice of energy, the Manhandla has contrived to have all four of its heads fully regenerate at once.

Now that she has the monster's measure, however, it's simply a matter of repeating her previous tactics, which - despite a good effort from the Manhandla to prevent just that - she does.
So, what do we send to face Her Once-and-Future Majesty next?
The Manhandla can't withstand the second assault on its core, and as the crystalline mass shatters, the body goes limp and gurgles unpleasantly for a moment. Green pigment fades rapidly to brown, and then to grey; vines, leaves, and other growths wither; and at last, the whole shrunken, discolored mass evaporates in a puff of darkness.
I think she's earned the fight she really wanted, don't you?
The Sixth Trial concluded, Altria and her horse are whisked away to the Seventh, which is once again set in the ornate chamber of a Guardian.
Eh, fair enough.
You aren't the only one who responds with surprise when Levoknuckle reappears.

THE BLUE KNIGHT: LEVOKNUCKLE

Altria stands up straight and raises her sword - thankfully free of Manhandla sap and slime - to salute the Hyrulean Knight.

Levoknuckle holds up his lance, returning the gesture of respect, and then makes a sweeping motion towards Altria's horse.

She bows and hurries over to her steed, where she quickly mounts up and reaches into her Saddlebag of Holding for another lance - and also a shield, bearing a crest of arms that you recognize as the Drake family emblem, involving a red dragon.

Now fully outfitted for a joust, Altria looks to her opponent, and nods her head. "Thank you for your patience. Shall we?"
Sister, if you would?
Levoknuckle nods, and the two riders lower their lances into position.
Gotcha.
From somewhere unseen, a trumpet blares a silvery two-note challenge.

Moving as one, the knights charge.

Gained Riding E (Plus)

*CRASH!*
*CRUNCH!*

Somehow, Altria manages not to get unhorsed in the first pass, but she definitely comes off the worse of the two. Though she managed a direct hit against Levoknuckle's Hylian Shield while using Mana Burst at visible intensity, that only seemed to be enough to make up for some of the construct-warrior's adult proportions and supernatural strength. That still leaves the matter of mass - and thus, momentum - firmly in the Blue Knight's court.

The warriors pass each other and ride to opposite ends of the hall to bleed off the speed of their charges, each circling a pillar as they turn about to continue the joust. Levoknuckle once again shows knightly courtesy as he allows Altria to get out another lance and take as much time as she needs to recover from the shock of the first pass - but when that trumpet sings again, he shows no mercy.

*CRASH!*
*CRUNCH!*
*WHAM!*

And this time, Altria is ripped from her saddle and thrown to the floor.

She rolls about in a clatter of armor on stone, but manages to haul herself to her feet.

Levoknuckle is already there, dismounted and with sword in hand, waiting for her.

Altria draws her own blade, and the knights exchange salutes once more before joining the battle.

Your British friend gives it a valiant effort, but two direct hits in a joust have clearly badly weakened her, on top of what strength she'd already lost to her previous opponents. Altria also doesn't have an armor-obliterating attack like Akua, and while the presence of a shield helps her turn aside some of the Sword Beams that the vampire had to either dodge or soak, it also prevents her from wielding her sword two-handed, as you've seen is her preference. That loss of striking power is just one more notch in the column of disadvantages Altria has in this match.

In the end, Levoknuckle disarms her, and it's Altria's turn to yield.

The Blue Knight nods, and then claps the smaller girl on the shoulder in a comradely manner, nodding once.

Then her Trials end, and Altria and her horse are back on the floor of the Ring.

---

You have to laugh.

"You- you don't even know the ha-ha-half of it, Tatsuki," you manage to gasp out between guffaws. "I mean, it's not JUST a 'fairy' kingdom, even if - heh - the stories make it sound like fairies live under every rock and tree."

"Only the really nice ones!" a fairy calls out, to general acclaim from his siblings.

"It's got human-ish people, too," you continue, "and regular plants and animals, monsters, demons, and everything else you'd have found on Earth about a thousand years ago. It's just that the supernatural stuff is all out in the open, and there's a lot more magic in the environment besides, which can make things... interesting."

"Lots of big monsters, and weirdness like walking plants?" Tatsuki guesses.

"Or the plants that explode when you pick them," you reply.

There's a pause at this.

"Exploding. Plants?" Tatsuki says slowly.

"Alex," your mother interrupts, "you are NOT growing any of those in the garden."

"Awww," Zelda sulks.

You really aren't, though. Koron didn't include Bomb Flower or similarly exotic species in the assortment of seeds and cuttings he provided you with, only near-mundane stuff that he thought had the best chance of adapting to Earth's environment, as well as going unremarked.

...aside from Snappy, anyway.

No, Bomb Flowers and their ilk are too obviously magical and magic-dependent to have been part of this first wave of experimental cultivation.

Released from the Ring, Altria sheathes her sword and raises a hand to her throat. One flash of light later, her armor has disappeared, leaving her in the clothes she was wearing earlier, with that medallion around her neck. Now that you're able to see it in action in person, it's pretty clearly the anchor for a small pocket dimension, just large enough to hold Altria's gear. Its aura is primarily Summoning Magic, which would account for the creation and maintenance of the pocket, as well as the process of taking things out of it or putting them in, but there are also elements of Abjuration and Augmentation, which look like they're meant to handle cleaning and other basic maintenance.
Alright, so what do we give this girl?
Altria tucks the medallion back under her collar, cutting your analysis short along with the fading glow, and then is literally swept up by Lucia, who starts doing her version of the parental fussing you saw from Akasha earlier.
She probably wouldn't say no to a new sword, or an ingot of Hylian Steel that could be forged into one.
...you're going to be seeing a lot of that with these Trials, aren't you?
We only gave the Shuzen girl a pet for clearing six Trials, though. Giving Miss Drake a weapon, or the means to make one...
Arthur and Anna Drake are there as well, while Ambrose has opted to stay in his seat.
...could send the wrong message, right. So, another pet, then? How about a dragon?
Struggling free of her mother's arms with an embarrassed blush and protests, Altria turns to face Elder Terok as the old Goron approaches.
I vote for the dragon!
You lean forward intently, curious as to what the Goddesses feel would be a suitable reward for Altria.
Ha. Ha. No. This should do.
What descends from the golden lightshow into Altria's hands is a ball of grey fluff that turns out to be a kitten with fur that is mostly cream-colored, save for patches of grey over the face, about the forelegs, at the tips of its curiously large, floppy ears, and forming rings around its bushy tail.

"Aw, a kitty!" Zelda coos.

"Why are you punishing her, Goddesses?" Briar wonders.

When the little feline raises its head to look up at Altria, you catch a glimpse of blue eyes.

It meows once, softly enough that you can't hear it at this range.

Altria responds by holding the cat up to her cheek and snuggling it.

...it promptly reaches up to bat at that single strand of hair jutting out from the top of her head.

The Drakes clear out of the way after that, giving Kahlua her shot at the Ring of Trials. As she approaches the Triforce emblem, you note that, while Kahlua is wearing the Warrior Princess Vambraces you gave her yesterday, she does not have the Warrior Princess Gauntlets. Did she leave them home, or has she chosen not to wear them into the Trials?

Seeing as how you're the one who made the items in question, and you still have the Guardian's Gauntlet that was the partner to the one you forged Kahlua's first gift from, you could summon them here for her fairly inexpensively.

---

"I'm really not growing anything like Bomb Flowers in the garden, Mom," you assure your mother - and by extension, your father.

Really, you'll need a much better place than the backyard to grow stuff like that. At the very LEAST, it would require a secure and shatter-proofed greenhouse in a magically-rich location somewhere OFF of the Hellmouth.

All things considered, you'd probably be best-served waiting until those nascent plans to create your own demiplane come to fruition, and then including a "garden" area as part of the geography. That would make access to any exotic crops easy to control, and would give you control over the environment besides...

Unspoken future plans aside, your DECLARED answer has visibly taken some tension out of both your parents.

Before Kahlua reaches the portal to the "Inner Ring," you call down and ask if she'd like for you to summon her Gauntlets. You repeat the warning about how going into the Ring with extra equipment would increase the difficulty of the challenges, whether at the start or after she actually started using the items in question.

From the way Kahlua started smiling right after you made the offer, she didn't really need any time at all to consider her answer, which is a delighted, "Yes."

You reach into your pocket, take out the remaining Guardian's Gauntlet - which settles to the stone surface of the squat tower with a dull thump - and proceed to work your magic. It's really just the Spell to Summon A Weapon, with the paired nature of the Gauntlets making them count as a single item. Normally, the spell would be a bit more expensive to cast, if still quite trivial, but the fact that you created the Warrior Princess Gauntlets out of the partner to the Guardian's Gauntlet at your side makes the mana cost almost trivial.

Considering how long the other Trials have lasted thus far, and how long this Summoning Spell normally persists, you decide to leave the duration alone. Your current level of spellcasting prowess is enough to make the magic last for over three hours, which is VASTLY more time than Kahlua will need, but if you were to cut the duration down a step, it would only hold out for about twenty minutes. That's a little too close to the run-time of the three previous challengers for comfort.

You'd feel awfully embarrassed if your spell gave out in the Final Trial, and that's not even getting into what Kahlua would feel like, losing her weapon.

...on that note, when you levitate the Gauntlets down to their mistress, you remind her that as summoned objects, they can be dismissed, disrupted, or dispelled by certain magical effects that wouldn't be an issue if they were really here.

Kahlua thanks you for the reminder with a sunny smile, tugs her metal gloves on, and then marches into the waiting transportation array.
I know exactly what to start her off with.
The chamber that your friend is taken to looks like a temple built into the mouth of an active volcano. Stone walls covered with colorful carvings and fantastical statues rise from a pool of bubbling lava, which casts a dull orange glow over the room. Rising from that molten floor is an "island" composed of large hexagonal stone platforms, six of which form a ring around the seventh; each individual platform is perhaps twenty feet across at the widest point, and Kahlua is standing near the middle of one of the outer six.

"Lava in the first round?" Madam Lanora exclaims in surprise. "That seems like a bit much..."
It'll be fine.
"There's not really THAT much of it," Koron reassures his compatriot with a note of false confidence. "Look, the gap between the edge of the island and the wall is only about... hmmm... two feet, really? Wow, I could just fall right in there..."
Oh, for Our sakes. Show a little faith, you two!
Across from Kahlua, near the far end of the central platform, stand two tall, reptilian monsters. Green-scaled, yellow-eyed, and with a crest of three orange-tinted horns running down the backs of their necks, the creatures have red sashes belted around their waists, dark wraps around their gecko-like three-toed feet, and a single massive metal gauntlet with a built-in shield strapped over one arm. The beast to Kahlua's left wears its weapon on its right, while its partner wears a similar brutal device on its left.

Spotting the vampire, the lizard-men flare their spiny crests and open their jaws in aggressive hisses, the menace of which is slightly undercut by the way their long tongues waggle from their mouths. Limbering up their armored limbs, the monsters stride forward with confidence, long tails waving slowly behind them - and revealing spiked, mace-like weights strapped to the ends.

SAURIAN BRAWLERS: LIZALFOS

Kahlua laughs in delight and rushes forward, slamming a punch into the first reptile's snout that sends it tumbling backwards, head over tail.

The second Lizalfos boggles at the casual display of brute strength, but manages to get its gauntlet up in time to block Kahlua's follow-up attack. For a wonder, it doesn't even get knocked on its tail by the impact.

The first Lizalfos doesn't stay down after that one blow, but it shows much more caution after shaking off the birdies and pulling itself back to its feet - not that it helps very much. Even at two-to-one odds and two or three times Kahlua's mass each (and that NOT counting their taste in handwear), the Lizalfos really aren't built to take hits from something as powerful as a vampire, even a young one. They do their best to block or dodge, Kahlua is at least as fast and nimble as they are.

And then she lands another clean hit that sends the second Lizalfos tumbling tail-first into the lava. There is a piercing screech as the monster leaps away from its brief contact with the molten stone, but while it's alive, it's been left with scorched hindquarters and a smoking tail, and proceeds to hop around the platforms at random, clutching its seared backside and wailing in pain.

There is a general, "Oooh!" of sympathy from the crowd at this point.

The damage to its partner REALLY throws off the other Lizalfos, who Kahlua is quick to beat down, before she finally puts the burnt brute out of its misery, ending the First Trial.

For her second round, Kahlua is relocated to a chamber that seems to be from the same school of Hylian architecture as the Guardians' chambers, albeit without the pillars and banners. You get the impression that she's in a hallway in one of Hyrule's many ancient, seemingly-abandoned, not-quite-ruined temples.

Such places are usually crawling with monsters, but today, there seems to be just one. Humanoid in shape, it stands somewhat shy of six feet in height, though that is due in part to the slight hunch of its powerful shoulders. The creature is covered from head to toe in dark armor, of a style quite different from either worn by Jermafencer or Levoknuckle: the helmet is rounded and devoid of horns or crest; the only sections of rigid steel are the breastplate, gauntlets, and greaves, with the rest being flexible mail; it bears no shield; and instead of a sword, it's armed with a one-handed spiked mace.

PALACE WARDEN: DOOMKNOCKER

This enemy wastes no time on bravado, instead stomping forward with its weapon at the ready and its empty hand ready to grab or punch.

Perhaps because she's had the opportunity to observe a few knight-like Hyrulean monsters ahead of time, Kahlua begins this match more cautiously than the previous one, closing the distance between herself and her opponent at a walk, and circling to one side rather than coming at Doomknocker head-on. As such, when the mace begins to glow with the telltale sign of a charging Sword Beam, Kahlua isn't caught off-guard.

The monster, on the other hand, very much IS, because when it lets fly with its strike a moment later, Kahlua doesn't dodge, and instead backhands the approaching energy wave back the way it came - her Hylian steel gauntlets ringing out clear and true at the moment of contact.
Good girl! She's been paying attention.
"Since when can she do that!?" Akua bursts out.

Doomknocker takes the hit straight to the chest, and while it seems more stunned than hurt - thanks to the diffuse nature of its "Mace Beam" and whatever energy the attack lost being sent out and then back - that's enough of an opening for Kahlua to close in and deliver a solid one-two combination. She's about to go for a third strike when Doomknocker's empty hand shoots forward, catching her in the chest and shoving her backwards, into the ideal range to be struck by the monster's mace.

Seeing the weapon glow again, Kahlua puts some distance between them, just in time to avoid the Spin Attack that follows.

And then she ducks, slightly wide-eyed, as Doomknocker THROWS its weapon at her. As the mace goes spinning away behind her, tumbling end over end, Kahlua rises and closes in with her opponent once more. One punch is caught and turned away with a steely clang, a second is readied-

"Behind you!" Kokoa shouts.

-and once again, an older sister seems to be warned just in time by her younger sibling, as Kahlua narrowly dodges the spinning mace as it boomerangs back through the space her head occupied an instant before, to slam home in Doomknocker's waiting hand.

The monster's posture suggests disappointment at having used up its surprise attack to no benefit.

That reaction proves wise. Although Doomknocker is certainly not weak, it lacks the sheer strength of the dungeon-ruling monsters that have been showing up in the later Trials, and is unfavorably close to an even match for a young vampire in that regard. Skillwise, things aren't much better, and now that Doomknocker has revealed all of its trump cards, it's at a distinct disadvantage.

Also, that near-miss with its mace kind of mussed up Kahlua's hair.

She's a little annoyed by that, and expresses her displeasure accordingly.

It isn't long afterwards that Kahlua's Third Trial begins, this time in a square-shaped room some fifty feet to a side. The walls are as ornately carved as previous chambers, but the floor is smooth stone, devoid of decorative emblems, warding arrays, or pillars to support the ceiling. All that stands there, aside from Kahlua, are six bulky statues, ten feet tall and almost as broad, depicting larger-than-life knightly figures, fully equipped for battle. There is a resemblance to the style of armor worn by Levoknuckle - horned helms, shields on the left arm bearing the Royal Crest, and upraised one-handed sword in the right hand - but the statues are clearly made of stone rather than steel.

"How much do you want to bet that the statues come to life and attack her?" Larry asks.

"No bet," several people reply.

Good, they're starting to get it.

And sure enough, when Kahlua steps closer - her suspicious glares at the statues indicating that she's starting to get a handle on how things are done in Hyrule, too - the nearest of the six statues shakes, glows, and comes to life.

AWAKENED STONE GUARDIANS: ARMOS KNIGHTS

The first Armos Knight proves to be fairly easily managed. Its size and construction give it a certain amount of strength and durability, and it's not as slow as you might expect a ten-foot-tall humanoid mass of stone to be, but it's not nearly as fast as Kahlua, and she's able to hit it hard enough to leave cracks.

The main issue is that when she gets too close to another statue, IT animates as well, and begins working with the first as naturally as if both were being guided by a single mind. This effectively denies over half the room to Kahlua, and forces her to be mindful of how she moves in the remaining, comparatively small area - a good portion of which is taken up by the two active Armos Knights.

She does her best, but eventually, the pair of stone warriors "corner" Kahlua and force her to take one step too close to a third Armos, which promptly begins animating.

Outnumbered three-to-one by such sturdy and well-coordinated enemies, Kahlua is starting to look a bit pressed. Fortunately for her, that's about the point where the first Armos Knight finally gives out under her blows, a loud groan escaping it before its entire body collapses in on itself, shards of stone rapidly crumbling to dust that then drift away and vanish into thin air.

Gained Sunder E

Not only does this reduce the number of enemies Kahlua must deal with at once, it gives her a lot more space to work with. She is quick to take advantage, and once she's maneuvered the two active Armos Knights to one side of the room, she slips between them and dashes across to the opposite wall, which - taking a page from Akua's book - she begins to climb. Where the eldest Shuzen sister scrambled up a mostly-smooth pillar like a spider, Kahlua climbs more like a human might, making use of the statuary and other preexisting handholds. You're not sure if it's because she HAS to do it that way, or just finds it easier; regardless, you take notes.

Gained Climbing E

You can see what Kahlua is trying to do. Although the Armos Knights are quite tall, the style in which they were carved left their arms a bit stubby, meaning they can't reach more than twelve or thirteen feet off the ground, and that including the length of their swords. They also don't seem to be flexible enough to lean backwards, meaning that if Kahlua gets high enough, they might not be able to see her anymore, except by moving very far back - and if she can move faster along the walls (or ceiling) than they can trudge along the floor, she could well set up a surprise attack from above.

Your train of thought is cut short when the madness of Hylian magical engineering rears its aggravating head once again, as one of the Armos Knights LEAPS into the air, gaining five feet of height and covering a good ten feet of horizontal distance before-

*WHAM!*

-it literally comes crashing back down. The impact sends a tremor through the entire room, and while the three remaining Armos Knights still don't activate, Kahlua yelps and almost loses her grip on the wall.

And then the second Knight does the same thing.

With a growl of annoyance, Kahlua looks down at her targets, measuring distances and taking note of how, after each leap, the Knights pause for a short time, as if recovering from the exertion. Considering how much each of them must weight, and the distance they're managing to get in those leaps, it's not surprising that their jumping around is taxing the magic that animates them.

A moment later, Kahlua lets go of the wall, kicking off into a neat, arcing backflip which brings her down almost directly onto the top of one helmeted head.

Her Warrior Princess Gauntlets follow an instant later, in a two-fisted hammerblow that almost takes the monster's head off with one shot. The Armos reacts by jabbing its sword at Kahlua, but those stubby arms and poor field of view come into play, preventing the mechanical menace from connecting - and while its compatriot moves to assist, Kahlua has time for a second blow, which finally caves in the stone helmet.

Even though it's taken to leaping about rather than slowly stomping along, one Armos Knight is no real match for Kahlua, particularly now that she has an entire half of the room to work with. When that one is finally destroyed, she takes a step towards the nearest of the remaining three-

!

-and then visibly pouts as all of them wake up together and begin bouncing around the room in a staggered - and staggering - formation. Despite that, and the fact that the last Armos Knight standing gains some kind of supercharge that lets it leap clear across the chamber, to come down with a truly earth-shaking force, Kahlua manages to clear the room without getting crushed.

Her Fourth Trial is a roughly circular cavern with a large pool of lava in the center and a broad ring of bare rock running all the way around that. The room is otherwise featureless, save for several odd plants growing at irregular intervals along the stone ring; little more than bulbous black pods amidst green fronds, they're almost as big as Kahlua, and the sight of them sends a shock of recognition and alarm through you.

Before you can follow that thought any further, a thunderous bellow draws your attention to the opposite side of the room from Kahlua, where a giant grey-skinned reptile stands. The monster's single horn and the bony crest spreading out behind its head give it an aspect somewhat similar to the dinosaur known as Monoceratops, but the horn extends from the beast's forehead rather than its snout, and its tusked, fang-filled maw is definitely not that of a herbivore. The body is a different shape than that particular species as well, with powerfully muscled forelimbs leading back to a more slender rear, several thick spikes jutting out of its back along the spine, and strange, blue-tinted crystal clusters growing out of the shoulders.

INFERNAL DINOSAUR: KING DODONGO

"A dragon already!?" Akua protests. "How is that fair!?"

---

Your reply leaves Akua momentarily speechless, but past her short-lived expression of shock, you can see that her irritation and envy haven't diminished in the least.

It would seem that Akua is one of those kids who thinks dinosaurs are just as cool as dragons, and thus - at least from the vampiric point of view - that fighting one is as good as fighting the other.

"There are DINOSAURS in there!?" half the people in the arena shout in unison.

Apparently Akua is not the only one who likes dinosaurs and/or the prospect of facing one in a fight.

Kahlua stares at the roaring King Dodongo with clear trepidation, but rallies, raises her steel-covered hands for the fight to come, and begins circling the lava chamber towards her opponent.

Lowering its head to glare at the tiny intruder, the Infernal Dinosaur stomps forward to meet her, not so much avoiding the molten area as staying on the part of the floor that can actually support its weight, and also not slow down its already ponderous movements. As fire-breathing monsters, Dodongos have a much higher tolerance for heat - even that of molten rock - than any mundane creature, and a specimen this large and heavily-armored could probably go for a dip in the lava pool if it wanted to, as long as it didn't drink or inhale any of the searing hot liquid stone.

Kahlua is decidedly less nonflammable, but the stone track is broad enough that she doesn't seem to be in any immediate danger - as long as she stays closer to the walls of the lava chamber than its molten center, at least.

When the two combatants get close enough, King Dodongo halts its advance and rears up as high as it can while staying on all fours, sucking air into its gaping maw.

"It breathes fire!?" Sokka exclaims. "How is that NOT a dragon!?"

"Not all dragons breathe fire," Akua snaps.

"It's called the 'Infernal' Dinosaur for a reason," you point out.

It takes King Dodongo about three seconds to fully-charge its breath weapon. That's two seconds more than Kahlua needs to dash in under its jaw and slam a strong punch home into its expanding chest. The rock-like appearance of the monster's hide suddenly gives off the impression of a huge amount of dough, as Kahlua's Gauntlet and forearm sink into it almost up to her elbow. There is no upwelling of blood or breaking of scales; in fact, beyond a certain wobbling of some of its more loosely-hanging flesh, King Dodongo doesn't even seem to notice the blow.

"Oh, pooh," Kahlua pouts.

Then the force behind her strike runs out and the giant reptile's flesh snaps back into place, sending Kahlua staggering back a step.

Just as King Dodongo exhales, filling that part of the room with fire.

Even as she kicks off HARD against the floor, throwing herself as far backwards as possible, you see Kahlua's arms snap up in a guard to protect her head and torso, and there is a glimmer of force as her Warrior Princess Bracers activate - and then she's engulfed by the cone of red-hot flame.

It's only for a moment before she flies out the far side of the blast, defensive field flickering wildly around her, but that's more than long enough for some members of the audience - not all of them related to Kahlua - to cry out in shock or concern.

As she lands, rolls, and springs back to her feet, you can see that the combination of the jump and your gift spared Kahlua the potential worst outcome of having a not-dragon breathe fire on her. Her flesh is a little more red than it was a second ago, and smoke lingers about the tips of her hair and the edges of her dress, but other than that, she seems fine.

Well, uninjured. She's too visibly annoyed to be "fine."

With an angry yell, Kahlua charges back at her enemy, leaping into the air to slam a flying punch across its snout. This blow connects with a more satisfying impact, and even rocks King Dodongo's head to one side - for all of about a foot, before the monster snarls and turns its head back the other way, catching Kahlua with the side of its snout and sending her flying into the wall.

She managed to take the first hit on her Gauntlets, her defensive field flashed into view again when she hit the wall, and with vampiric regeneration, she won't even be bruised - but even so, right here and now, slamming back-first against solid stone like that, limbs splayed out in all direction and head bouncing off the rock, has got to hurt.

More than that, you know it's not going to help her win this Trial.

As if to add insult to injury, King Dodongo rolls up into a huge ball as Kahlua falls down the wall, and rolls forwards. Kahlua has just enough time to look up and see the living boulder rumbling her way, but laying on her stomach as she is, you don't see what she can do to avoid being flattened-!

Fangs flashing in a snarl, Kahlua reaches up and all but tears one earring out, releasing the first of her seals as she rolls onto her back. The bloody aura hasn't even finished filling the magma chamber before King Dodongo is on her, and the vampire princess lets out a yell as she raises her hands to catch the massive monster.

Superhuman strength or no, King Dodongo is too massive and has too much momentum behind it for Kahlua to stop outright. She doesn't even try to; instead, when the giant reptile's bulk comes crashing down on her, her upraised arms bend with the weight, all the way until her elbows have hit the stone floor, and then push back.

King Dodongo lets out a roar of surprise as this unexpected "speed bump" shoves it slightly off-center, robbing its somersaulting advance of control and sending the beast wheeling what any lesser creature would consider to be dangerously close to the rim of the lava pool. The monster leans hard in the other direction, trying to get back control - or maybe just to unfurl itself and get its legs properly under it again - and ends up slamming into, over, and past one of the bulbous black bulbs growing in the shadows at the edges of the chamber.

Scratched by the impact, the fluffy white growth at the top of that black pod sparks, hisses, and burns.

A moment later, the whole thing explodes violently.

"And those," you say, raising your voice over the shock of the crowd, "are Bomb Flowers."

Now back on her feet, and in a decidedly foul temper from the dirt and just having a huge reptile roll over her, Kahlua is far enough away from the blast not to be endangered by it; instead, she just starts in surprise and stares at the crater the vegetable detonation just gouged out of the nearby earth and stone.

Then, slowly, her gaze trails over to King Dodongo, who has returned to his four-footed stance and begun marching towards her again, snarling in anger.

Kahlua's subsequent smile is kind of terrifying.

She rushes over to the nearest intact Bomb Flower, turns to face King Dodongo, and then waits. The monster obliges her in not taking its time, and when it draws near-

!

-it lashes out with one clawed limb, the sheer force of which threatens to knock Kahlua into the lava if it connects. She wisely doesn't allow it to, stepping back to let the lizard's foreleg whoosh past her, then leaping onto it and using the extra height and footing to smack King Dodongo in the kisser again, this time rocking its head backwards.

The Infernal Dinosaur howls in anger and tries to shake Kahlua off its leg, but she's already hopped clear. Seeing that, the monster begins to breathe in, exposing its throat and the red-hot flame rising inside of it.

Kahlua dashes over to the Bomb Flower, rips it out of the ground with one hand, and spins around once, twice, three times before letting it fly straight down King Dodongo's throat.

Gained Thrown Weapons Training F (Plus) (Plus) (Plus)

When the giant monster feels a weight slam into its mouth, reflex, instinct, or surprise have it snapping its jaw shut.

A moment later, the Bomb Flower explodes, sending King Dodongo reeling with a bellow of pain, smoke and blood erupting from its maw, its nostrils, and small tears in its hide. It collapses on the floor, sprawled out on its stomach, and Kahlua charges in, bringing both fists down on the beast's skull HARD.

That one attack isn't enough to kill the monster, but now that Kahlua knows how to handle it, the only issue is doing so without getting steamrolled or running out of Bomb Flowers.

The former, she manages by simply outrunning the larger monster as it rolls around the room.

The latter proves not to be an issue. Each time it swallows a Bomb Flower and gets smashed in the head for it, King Dodongo is decidedly woozy when it recovers its footing; after the third time, it goes staggering into the lava pool, which proves to be deep enough to swallow the monster right up to its shoulders. Perforated from within, its body proves less resistant to lava than might otherwise be the case, and the monster wails in pain and thrashes about as lava penetrates its innards. Even so, King Dodongo no longer has the strength to haul itself from the molten stone, and its movements rapidly grow weak and sluggish - and then cease entirely.

As that happens, the monster's hide grows dark - and around it, the lava likewise begins to darken with the crackle of forming glass. Is too much heat being absorbed by that massive corpse, or is it something supernatural...?

Either way, Kahlua has won the Trial.

Reality blurs, and a Guardian's chamber appears.

THE BLUE KNIGHT: LEVOKNUCKLE

"This guy again?" Tatsuki says, in a low voice you almost don't catch.

Levoknuckle does seem to be getting quite a workout today, doesn't he?
It helps that we have plenty of spares.
Glancing at Akua, you see that she's folded her arms and is glaring grouchily at her younger sister, evidently quite annoyed that, not only did Kahlua get to fight a dinosaur, now she's getting to fight the Knight that basically ended Akua's Trials - one round earlier than she did.

Actually, when you stop and think about that, it makes sense that Levoknuckle would show up earlier for Kahlua. Not only did she go into the Trials with Hylian steel gauntlets, she just released one of her seals. More than that, she's seen how the Blue Knight battles; that all by itself would make him somewhat less of a challenge for her than he was for her older sister.

"Less" of a challenge does not equate to "no" challenge, however. After all, you think to yourself, as Levoknuckle salutes his opponent - earning a polite, slightly-singed curtsey in return - Kahlua has never demonstrated anything like Akua's armor-obliterating attack.

Chivalry upheld, the Blue Knight lowers his lance and begins his by-now familiar charge, energy gathering at the tip of the spear.

Kahlua stands her ground, hands raised and fingers twitching nervously as she watches the Lance Beam build, its glowing core drawing ever-closer.
What is she-!?
At almost the last possible moment, as the force-wreathed, crackling length of the lance comes within a foot of striking her, Kahlua moves. Both hands come together with a metallic clang and a dazzling flare of red-tinted youki writhing against blue-white force, seizing the forward length of the lance and guiding it, as Kahlua spins about in place, so that the point passes over her shoulder.
No.
And then, with force-bolts flying in every direction as Levoknuckle's technique comes apart in spectacular fashion, Kahlua leans forward, and PULLS.
No way!
At this point, any mundane lance would shatter. Even common magical lances (if there is such a thing) probably wouldn't be able to bear up under the combined stresses of vampiric strength, the power of a one-man heavy cavalry charge, and the sudden, wild discharge of a broken Lance Beam.
There is no way that can work!
Levoknuckle's vamplated lance, like the rest of his accouterments, is fashioned from Hylian steel.
Oh US!
It groans mightily, but it doesn't break.
Bwahahahaha!
And so, you and your guests are perhaps the first people in the history of Hyrule to see a Knight of the Realm be ripped out of his saddle and dragged FORWARD through the air, like a vaulter on the end of his pole.
If he had a face, the LOOK on it right now-!
Levoknuckle has no face or voice with which to express its shock and protest, but the way he kicks frantically at the air as Kahlua unhorses him MORE than makes up for that lack.

Below, you hear Arthur Drake mutter, "That can't possibly be tournament-legal..."

"It may not be legal," Lucia crows in delight, "but I like it!"

Then Levoknuckle hits the floor of the chamber, with a sound-

*CRASH!*

-that drowns out everyone.

As the Blue Knight lies there for a moment, stunned by the impact or what preceded it - or more likely, both - you spare a moment to check on Kahlua.

You have to wince.

While she won that contest, she didn't come off entirely unscathed. Her Hylian steel Gauntlets may have allowed her to break the Lance Beam before it could blast her across the room, but they did little to impede the subsequent discharges - and she was standing practically INSIDE the technique as it came apart.

You can easily count half a dozen small holes scattered across the front of Kahlua's dress, and several more along her arms and legs. The bleeding has already stopped and the damage begun to heal - Kahlua's regeneration, you note, is faster than her older sister's - but still, seeing what are effectively stab wounds in the body of one of your friends is unsettling.

Particularly given that Kahlua is still smiling, as if she doesn't even realize she's been injured.

And then, as Levoknuckle drags himself to his feet and draws his sword, Kahlua slides off her right Gauntlet and does something you've not seen since that hunting expedition during her last birthday.

With a focused surge of youki, blades in the shape of bats' wings erupt from her right forearm.

"Ow," Dave says.

He's not the only one; most of the people who don't live with Kahlua or haven't been monster-hunting with her are audibly and visibly startled by this ability.

For yourself, you've seen it before... though not until AFTER you'd already made the Warrior Princess Gauntlets, which has resulted in a demonstrable shortcoming. You were able to adjust the design of the Warrior Princess Bracers to accommodate the arm-blade trick, at least, but maybe you should offer to adjust your first present as well, before the party is over?

---

While dinosaurs are not without their charm - an appeal that speaks to the same part of the human and monster brain that likes explosions and big smashy things - you can't say that you consider them as interesting as dragons.

Because seriously, DRAGONS.

Still, Akua is entitled to her opinion, even when it's objectively a poor choice.

...not that you're going to say that out loud, of course.

"Make a note, Other Me," you state aloud.

"What about?"

"We need to upgrade Kahlua's Gauntlets, so that she doesn't need to take them off to do... that." You gesture down at the Ring, where Levoknuckle has finished readying himself for the second stage of the Fifth Trial, saluted Kahlua, and closed to begin contesting his Hylian steel sword against her organic weaponry.

After a couple of passes, it becomes clear that Kahlua's arm-blades are not quite up to the task of dueling a Knight of Hyrule. Part of it's the difference in size; you know that even for a figure of the Blue Knight's dimensions, a one-handed sword wouldn't weigh all THAT much, but it's still bigger than all of Kahlua's wing-blades combined. She wisely doesn't try to parry it with a single blade, instead folding all her extra limbs together to support one another as they catch and redirect the blade.

Even then, you can see the edge of Levoknuckle's sword biting into the living tissues. The damage heals the instant the sword breaks contact, but still.

That much might be an acceptable trade-off, if Kahlua was damaging Levoknuckle to the same or greater extent; after all, she regenerates, and he doesn't. But whether it's sword, shield, or the armor behind both, the best result she seems to get is an ear-piercing, tooth-aching squeal of sharp things on steel.

When Levoknuckle fires up his Sword Beam a moment later, his following attack cleaves right through two of Kahlua's blades.

Having already seen their limited usefulness in this match, she doesn't try to regrow them; instead, while switching to using the Gauntlet still worn on her left arm to block, Kahlua reshapes her remaining weapons into a single wing. When she takes a stab - or cut, really - at Levoknuckle a moment later, this attack actually does some damage, to the tune of a single scratch across the Blue Knight's shield, long but shallow. Combined with that negligible effect, an experimental attempt to parry the charged-up sword leaves the larger blade cut about a quarter of the way through.

Kahlua breaks contact a moment later, slamming a kick into Levoknuckle's armored midsection that rocks the construct back a step before she turns and runs for cover behind the nearest pillar, dodging Sword Beams as she goes - and taking a couple of hits to the back in spite of her efforts, triggering flares from the forcefield generated by her Bracers. Along the way, Kahlua's arm blade melts, elongates, and stretches out as a shapeless tentacle, snapping up the Gauntlet that she removed and left laying on the floor, and once she's got the bulk of the column between her and Levoknuckle, she pulls the armor back on.

Fully-outfitted once more, Kahlua slowly circles the pillar, head cocked at an angle that suggests she's listening to Levoknuckle's full-metal footsteps as he advances towards her.

At one point, she pauses and seems to forget about listening to her opponent. Instead, her eyes have become fixed on the torches burning along the walls.

Kahlua dashes to the nearest torch and rips it off the wall, the chain that had been holding it snapping with a high-pitched "ping." Then she turns around, pitches the burning brand towards her opponent, and - after ducking his return fire - makes for the next torch to her right.
Clever girl.
The next couple of minutes see this tactic repeated dozens of times. Levoknuckle catches on quickly and starts moving to lay down fire at a torch he thinks Kahlua is approaching, but he can't possibly cover them all in this manner; the room is too large, the torches too numerous, Kahlua too much faster on her feet, and all the pillars are just not helping. The Blue Knight's attacks do connect a few times, mostly resulting in successful blocks or deflections via Gauntlet. One Sword Beam gets past that manual defense, a full-power discharge that travels faster than the weaker "rapid fire" version Levoknuckle was using before, and so catches Kahlua by surprise; however, the combination of her defensive barrier and her natural regeneration lets her soak the hit and keep going, and by the time Levoknuckle has charged up his blade again, two more torches have been removed from the wall.

By the end of it, most of the chamber has gone dark, leaving Levoknuckle in a moderately bright spot in the middle of the room, a few successfully-protected torches lighting the wall off to his left. Now functionally invisible in the shadows, Kahlua starts letting her footsteps - and the occasional giggle - echo from different parts of the room.

"Normally," Kahlua says, voice echoing from everywhere at once and nowhere at all, "this would be where the vampire sneaks up on her opponent while he can't see her."
Oh-ho!
Something flies out of the darkness.
What? What's she doing that's 'Oh-ho' worthy?
Levoknuckle's sword is there to intercept what turns out to be one of the torches, its flame extinguished.
Watch and listen.
"But you, Sir Knight? You didn't have eyes to begin with."
Huh.
Another unlit piece of wood and oiled rags spins end-over-end into the rough patch of light, coming from an entirely different direction than the first, and is blocked by Levoknuckle's shield.
Okay, maybe that's a little impressive for a kid her age.
"So what would a little darkness matter?"
But I still don't see why you were that impressed.
This time it's half of a broken chain-link that's thrown at the Blue Knight, but the results are the same.
Keep watching.
You spare a moment to wonder what Kahlua is leading up to with this.
...alright...
You see a few of your guest shifting uncomfortably at the display as they doubtlessly wonder the same thing, and whether or not Kahlua has been taking lessons from a horror movie production crew. Her cheerful chatter fails to have any more obvious impact on the armored figure it's intended for than making him slowly turn his helmeted head from side to side, scanning the darkness for his foe.
Still not seeing- wait a second!
Then Kahlua drops down from the ceiling, both fists slamming into Levoknuckle's helmet with a stunning CLANG!
Oh, that sneaky little princess!
This is followed a moment later by an almost equally loud CRASH!, as the force of the blow hammers the Blue Knight to the ground.
The very best kind!
Levoknuckle isn't beaten with that single blow, by any means, but once he's down, Kahlua makes a point of getting his sword away from him and casting it into the darkness. This puts the remainder of the fight on much more even terms, fist against fist (and shield), steel against steel, and vampiric regeneration against a construct's sheer physical resilience.
So, what do you two think we should send against this girl next?
Gained Armor Proficiency D (Plus) (Plus)
That's a good question.
It takes a while, and Kahlua doesn't really start to make progress until she manages to rip the Knight's Shield from Levoknuckle's arm, but in the end, she takes him apart.
We don't want to make it too much harder just yet.
Rather literally, in fact.
But we need something she can't just wail on, you know?
That animated armor isn't ENTIRELY made of Hylian steel, and some of the joints underneath finally gave out in the face of vampire strength.
Hmmm...
You suspect that if Levoknuckle had a face, it would be making quite the expression when his left arm sort of explodes off the rest of his body.
I think I have one.
Not long after that, the Fifth Trial comes to a close.

The world blurs, and Kahlua flinches reflexively as she finds herself standing atop one of four broad stone pillars that rise from the depths of a square-shaped pool of water. The flooded pit is deep enough that three grown men could stand on each others' shoulders without the uppermost of them breaching the surface, provided they weren't too tall, and yet the liquid is so clear that you can see right to the bottom.
Whoa, seriously?
There doesn't seem to be anything down there.
I think she can handle this, as long as she remembers the water can't hurt her.
The rest of the chamber isn't much to look at. It's the interior of a cube, with a walkway surrounding the pool, and a single row of spikes jutting out from each of the walls at a height of perhaps two feet. Over three feet long and perhaps ten inches thick at the base, the spikes would be almost comically large if not for the way the light - streaming down from an uncertain source over head, dancing across the surface of the water, and reflecting from the highly polished walls as if those oval-shaped patterns covering them were all mirrors - glints wickedly along their keen edges and sharp tips.

Though you know better, for a moment, it really seems like Kahlua is alone in the room.

And then you see it; behind her, water is flowing UP from the surface of the pool, forming a bloated, worm- or tentacle-like mass that is already nearly as tall as Kahlua, and just keeps growing larger. Kahlua must have heard the water splashing, because she spins around to confront the elemental manifestation, just as some kind of reddish, soccer-ball-sized sphere that had previously been hidden by the bulk of the stone "islands" floats up the interior of the twisting mass of liquid.

As Kahlua stares at it, the drifting mass seems to stare right back, like a single huge eyeball.

GIANT AQUATIC AMOEBA: MORPHA

"GODDESSES, WHY!?"
Whoops.
"NO TENTACLES!"
Double whoops.
Blinking at the unexpected dual outburst, you look down at the seats to find that Akasha and NAVI, of all people, have both leapt to their feet, shouting protests. The vampire lady seems to have been in the middle of reaching for her neck - or that chain she's been wearing around it every single time you've seen her, you realize with some alarm - only to turn in surprise at hearing the Great Fairy's cry, simultaneous with and almost equally unhappy as her own.

...and the images in the Ring have frozen, a part of your mind notes, as the rest takes in the scene below and wonders what just happened.

---

"Based on your mother's reaction, Briar," you say quietly, "I'm going to go out on a limb and say that her Link faced this 'Morpha' creature, and there are some bad memories involved. Am I wrong?"

"Nope," your partner replies. "Though the 'memories' in question were more ranting about the Water Temple where the thing hung out than about the monster itself..."

In other words, the Sages of Hyrule managed to come up with a Temple full of puzzles so aggravating, they traumatized the fairy companion of the Hero, who later went on to become a Great Fairy.
Oh, for goodness sake!
Somehow, this COMPLETELY fails to surprise you.
The Water Temple is NOT that bad!
...a small, dark corner of your soul may also be taking some satisfaction in this moment of vindication.

Just a little.

"Do you think she could use your company right about now?" you ask.
...I hate you two.
Briar considers that. "...do you mind?"

"Not at all."

"Thanks, partner."

"Before you go, though," you add, as Briar gathers herself to take off, "what are that thing's capabilities?"

There is something of a dull sense of recognition when you look at Morpha's image, but you're deliberately avoiding digging any deeper than that for answers. Even in this situation, you would rather not stir up your past life when there are perfectly viable alternatives.

Briar gives you a quick run-down, and then flies down to her mother.

Applying a cantrip so that you can "speak" with extra volume without straining your throat, you ask the audience for their attention, and - when that is given - proceed to recount what Briar just told you about the creature that Kahlua is facing.

Morpha is a hydrokinetic powerful enough to affect large bodies of water from across Hyrule. On the face of it, this makes the monster incredibly dangerous, but as Briar told you, the incarnation you're seeing comes from a time when Morpha had already devoted a considerable portion of its power to stealing most of the water from Lake Hylia, and another part to keeping the Zora's Domain - and all the Zoras living therein - frozen solid.

Performing either of those feats would be an impressive act of magic in and of itself. Performing both, AND keeping them running? That goes beyond "impressive" and into the realms of "deeply taxing."

As a copy of Morpha as it was at that time, the creature in the Trial doesn't have as much energy to throw at Kahlua as it otherwise might.

On top of that, there is a mental aspect to Morpha's control. It can only split its attention so many ways at once, and while Briar wasn't sure just how versatile it would be under ideal conditions, she knew that this version of the monster was limited to generating a few "tentacles" the size of the one it currently inhabits. Said pseudopods are still liquid, meaning that while they can hit fairly hard, they're honestly less capable at grappling enemies than something like Arrogante would have been.

They're also kind of fragile. Severing them from the main mass - even for a moment - will cause them to fall apart, and between Kahlua's sheer physical strength and ability to grow swords out of her arms, she has the capability to dismember Morpha. The elemental beast could "regenerate" such injuries readily enough, of course, but that leads into what is perhaps the monster's biggest weakness: its core needs to be in contact with water, either directly or by being part of the same "body" of liquid, to have the greatest level of control over it. When within Lake Hylia, Morpha could extend its power all the way up Zora's River, throughout the Domain, and into the sacred Fountain said to be the source of all of Hyrule's waters; on land, it couldn't do much more than flop around like a fish, while trying to draw enough water vapor to it to form a tiny tentacle or two and make for the nearest pool.

Seeing as how said core is also the monster's obvious weak-point, odds are Kahlua is going to attack it, especially if she was paying attention to previous Trial-battles like Moldarach and Manhandla - at which point she's likely to quite literally blow Morpha out of the water.

"And if her fight with Levoknuckle was any indication," you add, looking at Akua, "then I think we can safely say that Kahlua WAS paying attention to the earlier rounds."

The eldest Shuzen sister appears both smug at and annoyed by that.

Finally, you remind everybody that Kahlua is currently under a Spell of Protection From Water, so it won't have its usual detrimental effects on her.

"And as we saw yesterday, she does know how to swim." You pause, and then admit, "Though she probably won't be swimming as well in the Trial without Katara's help."

There are some chuckles at that, though interestingly, Katara herself doesn't join in; the young Waterbender is giving the frozen image of Kahlua and Morpha a thoughtful sort of look, which you think is more focused on the Aquatic Amoeba than the young vampire.

Then again, you did just say that Morpha was a magical hydrokinetic, using its powers for evil purposes. You could see a good-natured Waterbender taking that as a challenge.
Noted.
Akasha and Navi's previous outbursts left many in the audience visibly disturbed, but as you look them over now, your explanation of Morpha's capabilities seems to have reassured the majority. The two aforementioned ladies still don't look happy, mind you, but Navi has Briar and several of her other children gathered around for support, while Issa has gotten up to speak quietly with Akasha, and at least succeeded in getting her to take her hand away from her seal.

Then Sokka raises a hand. "Question!"

"Yes?"

He points at the unmoving image in the arena. "Why is the picture stuck? I mean, did everything in the Ring just sort of stop? Is it, I don't know, reconsidering the Trial? Or is Kahlua fighting that monster right now, and we're just not seeing it?"

Akasha twitches at that last question.

Thanks, Sokka. Really.

"None of the above," Madam Lanora says, using the same volume-boosting trick as you as she answers Sokka's question. "Time within the Trials moves at its own rate, which is separate from the world outside. Kahlua isn't frozen, but she isn't fighting right now, either."

...

Looking around, it's clear that some of your audience are having trouble making sense of that answer. Not you, especially not with this latest information helping you to make sense of a couple of details about the makeup of the Ring of Trials that had been nagging at you before, but...

Gained Time Affinity E

...?
I swear, the temporal stability of this realm is getting worse all the time.
Did something just...?
Nothing for you to worry about.
No, that must have been your imagination.

You should probably get back to watching the Trials, before anyone gets a headache.

With the most outspoken members of the audience at least partially reassured, the images within the Ring stutter back to life.

In slow motion, you see Morpha's tentacle rear back, gathering more mass to itself as it prepares a powerful strike. Kahlua leaps for the nearest of the other three islands as Morpha slams down on the stone where she had been standing, striking with such force that the upper half of the tentacle explodes into a spray of water, which flies in all directions.

Your description of Morpha's abilities is borne out here, as the instant its connection to the monster's core is broken, the water proceeds to behave in a quite mundane fashion. None of the flying droplets have the speed or hardness of bullets, they do not wheel around in mid-flight to chase Kahlua like a barrage of missiles, and when they reach the ends of their brief flights, those droplets that splash down on stone floor or sharp steel do not instantly return to the pool - although, if you look close (and you do), you can see them flowing sluggishly in that direction, in spite of the level floor.

Morpha DOES have the ability to gather water to itself at a distance. It just doesn't work very well with such small quantities.

With the deliberate destruction of its limb, Morpha's core drops back into the pool and moves in Kahlua's general direction, round body rolling along multiple axes as it pushes itself along on an artificial current. When it rises again, its assumed form has a much broader base and splits into three different lengths, two of which extend to the sides, while the third, much shorter, sort of bows forward.

It looks vaguely humanoid, especially when the "arms" reach for Kahlua, sweeping inward in crude mimicry of punches.

Slightly wild-eyed - most likely due to the instincts telling her that Water Is Bad - Kahlua steps back to avoid the first blow from the left arm, then ducks to dodge the farther-reaching follow-up. When the left arm shoots forward a moment later, instinct is momentarily overridden by training, and she raises her right arm to block.

When Morpha's amorphous "fist" hits the Warrior Princess Gauntlet, the liquid that hits the Hylian steel head-on comes to a visible, sloshing halt. The water further to the sides, however, keeps going, flowing past Kahlua's defensive guard to encircle her arm like finger and thumb - or perhaps a grasping claw.

Kahlua tears her arm free without issue, water splashing away as she does so, ducks the other limb as it comes in from the side-

!

-and then gets socked and soaked from ABOVE as the "head" of the monster's fake body lashes out. Having made direct contact with its target for longer than a second or so, the whole body starts to flow forwards, collapsing in on itself as it moves to encircle and restrain Kahlua-

WHAM!
SPLOOSH!

-only for the girl to kick out hard, right leg extending to connect with Morpha's core. As you predicted, the force of the attack is such that the spherical mass goes flying out the back of its current body as part of a violent eruption of water, which is followed almost immediately by the whole mass of liquid falling out of the air to splash on the island and the by-now VERY annoyed young lady caught in the indoor downpour.

Morpha's core clears the far rim of the pool and keeps going, slamming into the upper half of the wall - well removed from the spikes, you note with some dismay - and then rebounding like the world's biggest superball, arcing up to hit the ceiling, dropping to the floor, and then bouncing off of THAT to land back in the pool.

Despite being surrounded by its element once more, the red orb simply drifts where it is for a moment, giving off the same sense of being stunned without a face that Levoknuckle demonstrated a few minutes ago.

Your friends may not have been entirely prepared for Hyrule's monsters, but it's clear that Hyrule's monsters were, in turn, not entirely prepared for your friends. Or at least for how hard some of them can hit, despite lacking a certain holy sword.

Back on the island, Kahlua rises to her full, rather soggy height - a display made more impressive by the angry glare she shoots at her opponent than by any quality of her actual size - and once again removes the Gauntlet from her right hand.

You DEFINITELY need to talk to her about upgrading those.

This time, blades do not erupt from the flesh of her forearm, whether singularly or in numbers. Instead, with a grimace of effort, Kahlua turns her entire arm below the shoulder into a single razor-edged wing, nearly twice the length of the limb's normal state, and ending in a jagged, bony point.

Then she goes spearfishing.

Gained Spear Training E (Plus) (Plus)

Morph recovers from its daze in time to - narrowly - dodge Kahlua's first thrust, gets scratched along one side by the second, and quickly descends deeper into the pool to get out of range of the following strikes. Once it's at that depth, however, something of a stalemate ensues. Morpha is still able to generate tentacles, and does so, sending them at Kahlua in pairs, but they're visibly slower to form with the core farther away. This gives Kahlua plenty of time to slice through the offending masses of water, her "wing" unfolding far enough to separate all the liquid above its cleaving edge from everything below. Morpha tries to compensate by forming its offensive weapons at a distance from where Kahlua is standing, but vampiric speed and agility quickly put paid to that.

After getting nearly a dozen tentacles severed in this manner and accomplishing exactly nothing in exchange, Morpha changes tactics. Instead of raising tentacles, it forms icicles under the surface and shoots them out of the water at Kahlua. This works out a little better, as it at least forces the vampire to dodge, but then Kahlua simply drops into a crouch at the center of her current platform, and the frozen projectiles start passing over her head, some hitting the walls or ceiling with enough force to shatter, others falling mostly-intact onto the surface of one of the islands, and the rest dropping back into the water with a plop and a splash.

Realizing that it's accomplishing little except the slow exhaustion of its supply of ammunition, Morpha ceases this attack and floats there for a minute, as if considering its next move.

Then, much to your surprise, the red core starts to sink towards the bottom of the pool. The surface of the water goes perfectly still, and a moment later, starts to recede.

"Oh, what fresh hell is this?" Navi groans.

The water level slowly falls, and for the life of you, you can't see where it's going. Although... now that you think in those terms, isn't the pool getting a bit darker? Or rather, since the level of light coming from above hasn't changed, isn't the liquid getting more opaque? It's not so dark that you've lost sight of Morpha's core or anything, though admittedly, the red orb is more of a shadow at the bottom of the pool, and...

...er, wait. Was it... always that big?

...

No, you think, as the core gets visibly larger, it definitely wasn't.

In the depths of the pool, something creaks and groans in a manner that makes you think of your trips to the South Pole. Of thick ice, under pressure.

Morpha's distorted form suddenly gets much larger, much faster, and you realize it's shooting towards the surface-

!

-and then, with a great eruption of water, a humanoid figure formed from thick blue-white ice leaps out of the pool and onto one of the islands. It's a massive thing, twice Kahlua's height and broadly built in the bargain, taking up almost all of the space on that patch of floor. There is no head; Morpha's core is buried at the center of the torso, a solid foot of ice between it and Kahlua. The limbs should not be able to move as they do, and it takes you a moment to realize that the joints are not solid, but rather composed of still-liquid water, magically held in place to provide the necessary flexibility. A cloud of vapor is rapidly forming around the construct as the damp air around it cools.
...I thought the idea was to give her an opponent she couldn't just smash.
Kahlua's wing lashes out, curved point driving straight for the core, but while this larger weapon has more effect against the magical ice than lesser ones did against Hylian steel, it still only penetrates to a depth of perhaps half an inch - and that's before Kahlua hisses in pain and pulls the limb away from the frigid mass.
Evidently, Morpha had other ideas.
"...you were saying something about it not having a lot of energy, Alex?" Akasha calls out.

---

You have to shake your head at Morpha's decision to turn into an ice giant.

True, its current size means that the monster can effortlessly dominate the platform it's standing on, simply because it takes up most of the available space. Kahlua is small enough that she could still fit into the remaining area, but she'd have zero room to maneuver, and any hit from Morpha would push her off the island, whether directly into the water, back onto a hard stone floor, or into one of those walls - and possibly the spikes lining them.

Yet despite that...

"I know what I said, Miss Akasha, but this was a dumb move on Morpha's part. Now Kahlua can just punch it into ice cubes."

Indeed, Kahlua seems to be gearing up to do exactly that. She's leapt to the island diagonally across from where Morpha is standing, far enough away that it can't reach her, and as the giant pursues by moving to the platform to its right - striding the gap with slow, ponderous footsteps that send waves rippling through the water remaining in the pool - she once again reverts her arm to its normal state and slips her Gauntlet back on.

When Morpha comes into striking range and swings one massive, inflexible fist at Kahlua in a straight punch, which she greets in kind.

*CLANG*
*CRACK*

Morpha's right forearm is rocked back from the meeting of fists, the entire forearm spinning wildly on its liquid joint from the force of the blow. Amidst the flailing, you catch a glimpse of Morpha's knuckles, crushed and impacted where they met Hylian steel backed by vampire strength.

Kahlua, meanwhile, is still on her feet - though she's also been pushed clear across her little platform after that exchange. Due to its much greater size, Morpha's strike came at her from above and at an angle, and if she weren't as strong as she is, it would have either flattened her or blown her clear off the platform. As it stands, Kahlua was able to channel most of that energy down into the uncaring stone, but there was enough horizontal momentum involved to send her skidding back along the slick stone surface.

Despite the damage to its crude hand, Morpha presses its attack, leaning forward to sweep its left arm through the air above the platform before it. A haze of vapor trails behind the frozen limb as it moves, air moaning over and around it and cooling as it goes.

This attack is one Kahlua can't block or counter, and she doesn't try to. Instead, she leaps over it, moving towards Morpha's body as she flies through the air. Landing, she sets her feet, chambers a punch, and-

*CLANG*
*SPLASH*
*CRACK*

-strikes Morpha directly in its right knee. Cold water and chips of ice fly in every direction as the upper half of the "joint" is shattered, leaving Morpha to stagger on its undamaged left leg, while the lower length of the right simply stands there, briefly immobilized.

The chamber shakes again as Morpha's body crashes and splashes down, its right hand coming down in the water while its left manages to catch on the outer rim of the pool, arresting its fall just shy of a total faceplant-

*CLANG*
*SPLASH*
*CRACK*
*CRASH*
*SPLASH*

-at least until Kahlua pulverizes its left elbow, causing the severed left forearm to drop into the pool, while the rest of the body finishes crashing to the stones.

Even as Morpha falls, you can see the two sundered parts of its body moving. Perhaps because the lower leg and forearm are so much more massive than individual droplets of water, they're more responsive to Morpha's power over water at a distance; the left arm in particular reacts quickly, in contact as it is with the water in the pool, which Morpha's other arm is still touching. Liquid is also flowing up and along the constructed body, clearly being drawn to repair the broken joints, and perhaps to address the other, deeper damage Kahlua's blows have undoubtedly caused the monster's chosen vessel to suffer.

Unfortunately for Morpha, the ice is fairly heavy, which slows its movements, and the water can only move so fast when it's also trying to freeze every inch of the way.

And Kahlua is quite fast herself, as you well know.

*CLANG*
*CRACK*
*CLANG*
*CRACK*
*CLANG*
*CRACK*

One, two, three times, the young Shuzen hammers her steel-clad fists against the fallen, frozen hulk, driving cracks ever wider and ever deeper in its massive form, before she has to stop and give her hands a shake, the intense chill radiating out from the supernatural ice having seeped into - and through - her Gauntlets.

Hylian steel's energy-conducting properties have at least one downside, when it comes to extreme temperatures.

Despite this, Kahlua grits her teeth and pushes on.

*CLANG*
*CRACK*
*tinkle*

And then, with a ringing noise halfway between shattering ice and a cry of pain, the icy armor directly over Morpha's core falls to pieces. Kahlua gets in three direct hits before the monster finally brings up its right hand to swat at her, forcing her to get out of the way. By this point, the broken arm and leg have been largely repaired, and Morpha has enough extra water left over to close up the gaping hole in its defense, but its attention is split between doing that and making more of those sweeping arm-bar attacks at Kahlua to keep her from stepping up her offense.

Hydrokinetic or not, that much ice is not easy to move around, much less at speed.

*CLANG*
*CRACK*
*CLANG*
*CRACK*

As you just said, Kahlua's efforts are producing quite a lot of chips and chunks of ice.

Finally, as Kahlua shatters its right arm at the elbow, Morpha seems to once again decide that it has had enough of an unproductive method of attack. As the lower half of the icy limb falls away, the entire remaining upright mass of the body trembles, creaks, *CRACKS,* and begins to emit hissing plumes of... is that STEAM?

Kahlua takes one look at that and tries to put as much distance between her and Morpha as possible, but in this enclosed chamber, there is only so far she can move, and no possible cover except the water below, which her instincts won't even allow her to consider - and against a hydrokinetic monster, can you really blame her?

As such, when Morpha's body EXPLODES a moment later, sending shards of ice and a smashing spray of water all over the chamber, Kahlua is swallowed up by the burst.

There is a sound like a basketball bouncing into a puddle as Morpha's core hits the stone platform. It rebounds, arcing for the pool once more-

!

-and then is snatched out of the air by one sopping wet, truly ticked-off vampire princess. Shards of ice have pierced her Bracers' forcefield and her flesh in a few places, including one sliver that's hanging out of her right cheek.
Ouch.
Physically, you know that ice is just frozen water, but in mystical terms, "ice" and "water" are separate concepts. Related ones, to be sure, but not the same.

In short, your Spell of Protection From Water just got bypassed. And while contact with rigid ice doesn't have the catastrophic power-sapping effect on living vampires that flowing water does, it seems to retain enough of that inherent purifying power to be an issue - because the injuries inflicted by that sub-zero shrapnel AREN'T healing.

Kahlua's eyes all but BURN as she glares at Morpha, secured before her with both hands.

The core almost seems to tremble - or maybe it's just struggling to get loose?

If so, it fails.

Kahlua begins to SQUEEZE.

Youki crackles around the ice piercing Kahlua's arms and torso, but whatever loss of strength she suffers as a result, it's not enough.

Morpha strains, deforms, and then squeals.

And then, it pops, sending goo flying everywhere.

Fortunately, said goo slides off of Kahlua's barrier.

Despite Morpha's messy demise, the Trial doesn't end right away. Instead, following a brief high-speed blur that shows Kahlua calming down, you witness her removing her Gauntlets, breathing on her hands, and tucking them under her arms for a time until the lingering cold has passed. Then she begins gingerly picking the ice from her wounds, to a soundtrack of sulky grumbles and pained hisses. You're not sure if a human in a similar position is supposed to do that, but it seems fine for vampires, as once the ice is out, the damage starts to heal. Not as quickly as Kahlua's previous injuries, but fast enough to be of minimal concern.

Having showed a few seconds of that, the Ring and the Goddesses then skip the remainder of Kahlua's self-administered first aid, and proceed to her next Trial. This one is set in another of those sandy-floored underground rooms, like where Altria fought the Manhandla.

Instead of a giant, four-headed carnivorous plant, however, what rises from the sands this time is a dark, near-spherical mass covered in a forest of sharp spines. The beast resembles nothing so much as a sea urchin grown to gigantic proportions - fifteen feet across at least, not counting the pokey bits, which add as much as another five feet to its radius. It hovers just above the sand-covered surface, giving no indication of exactly how it's defying gravity - but then, you're kind of getting used to that sort of thing where monsters are involved.

The latest Hyrulean abomination against nature sits there for a moment, as if waiting. Then part of its spiked body snaps open, revealing a huge, grotesque eye, which stares unblinking at Kahlua. Its spines quiver and flex, shifting to point more directly towards the young vampire.

MYSTERIOUS EVIL EYE: DIGDOGGER

Then, with hardly a whisper of noise, the bulging-eyed monster begins to drift towards Kahlua.

---

Some people might say that allowing a child of Zelda's tender years to watch these fights, brutal and messy as they have been, is wrong. Some people would raise hell about psychological trauma, poor socialization, and sending unacceptable messages like "might makes right" or "solve your problems with violence."

But then, some people will say anything.

For your part, you see no need to shield your precious little sister from witnessing Morpha's slimy end.

You speak from experience when you say that seeing an evil monster die can be very reaffirming. It reinforces faith in the idea that Good will ultimately prevail, that the bad guys always get their well-earned comeuppance, and that monsters under the bed can be beaten - all of which are important to a healthy, happy childhood.

"Ew, gross!" Zelda exclaims with disgusted glee, as Morpha bursts into so much goo under Kahlua's crushing grip.

...aaaand you suppose it's also worth mentioning that little kids like horrible messy stuff, too.

"I don't get it," Sokka says to no one in particular, as Digdogger begins to slowly, menacingly drift towards Kahlua. When heads and eyes turn his way, he elaborates. "The Trials get more dangerous with each round, right?"
That's the idea, yes.
There is general agreement to this.

"So how, exactly is a giant floating urchin supposed to be MORE dangerous than that Waterbending walking iceberg that Kahlua just took apart?" the young Water Tribe warrior continues with a frown. "Are the spines poisonous, or something? Can it shoot them?"
O ye of little faith.
As if on cue, poisonous green energy crackles along Digdogger's body, crawling up its spines to form glowing spheres the size of baseballs - tiny, in comparison to the sheer mass of the beast itself, but large enough and numerous enough to be concerning. The spines twitch towards Kahlua, and their respective magical orbs are flung away, creating a short-lived, rather inaccurate rain of fire that covers a fairly large section of the room.

Kahlua sees the attack coming in time to dodge most of it, but the erratic nature of the bombardment does force her to use her Gauntlets to deflect a few projectiles all the same.

Back in the audience, Sokka nods. "More dangerous than it looks. Gotcha."

Digdogger seems to need a moment to recharge between volleys, and Kahlua takes advantage of that to try and close in, but the larger monster's giant eye twitches her way, and those of its spines closest to the incoming vampire adjust their angles to present a veritable wall of spears. Kahlua does not quite skid to a halt, but sand goes flying all the same as she turns sharply to avoid impaling herself, and starts circling Digdogger in search of a weak spot. Based on what you've seen of Kahlua's regeneration thus far, you suspect that she's less worried about getting stabbed than she is about giving her enemy the means to zap her from the inside out.

When Kahlua changes course, Digdogger tries to turn its body about to follow her, but its sheer bulk makes this a losing prospect. Yet even as the vampire passes out of the monocular monster's field of view, Digdogger's spines continue to respond to Kahlua's movements; they are not quite as accurate as when that huge eye was on her, and there is a certain amount of random waggling involved, but for the most part, the spiky defense is able to keep up.

Narrowing your eyes, you focus your attention on Digdogger's hide. You have to peer very close indeed, but doing so, you can just make out a ruffling motion along the monster's skin, sort of like hair or fur stirred by a breeze, only much more uniform.

Some kind of sensory tendrils, reacting to motion or sound?

Your examination is interrupted by a flash of light as Digdogger charges another attack. The projectiles are even smaller this time - ping-pong balls to the previous baseballs, you'd venture - and without the guidance of the central eye, they're less accurate as well. Yet they do not simply fire off all at once, instead discharging by sections as Digdogger "hears" or "feels" Kahlua moving around.

You're starting to get a proper appreciation for Digdogger's threat level, now. Slow though it may be, the thing is basically a floating fortress, able to attack and defend on all sides, at all ranges. Individual attacks are not exactly accurate or powerful - although the brief plumes of sand kicked up where the sickeningly green ping-pong balls of doom impact are big enough to make it clear that even those comparatively paltry hits would sting - but they make up for that by dint of sheer numbers.

There is a chance that Digdogger might be vulnerable to ranged attacks, but as Kahlua doesn't HAVE any of those...

Catching a familiar rosy glow out of the corner of your eye, you ask, "Hey, Briar. How exactly does Link fight these things? Stand off and make with the Sword Beams, use a bow and arrows, or chuck Bombs?"

"He plays an ocarina."

You pause, and slowly ask, "...a magic ocarina?"

The question is half-hopeful, and half-dreading, and when Briar simply shakes her head, the hope fails.

"Nope. Just a regular old ocarina."

...

You swear you just heard a record skipping in the background, somewhere in the last couple of seconds.

"What," Shadow Alex says flatly.

"Digdogger hates certain kinds of sound," the fairy clarifies. "It's one of those demonic weaknesses that make no real sense. Apparently, if you play a certain tune on the right sort of wind instrument - ocarina, flute, recorder, whistle - the monster either shrinks or splits into a bunch of smaller copies of itself. Whichever result you get makes it a lot easier to put the thing to the sword."

...

Sure, why not? It's probably not the weirdest demonic weakness out there.
It's up there, though.
And when you stop and think about it, if Digdogger really does have the equivalent of "ears" all over its body, then a certain vulnerability to sound would make a degree of sense...

You shake your head. "That doesn't help Kahlua much."

You gesture down into the Ring, where your friend is still dodging that low-powered, area-by-area strafing attack. Unlike the heavier bombardment, Digdogger seems to be able to keep this level of output going consistently, perhaps due to the sequential nature of the attack: charge one area at a time; hold until needed; fire; and repeat.

By this point, Kahlua has had hundreds of those ping pong balls of doom sent her way. She's dodged better than one in twenty, maybe even one in fifty, and most of the rest have spattered uselessly on her Gauntlets, but a couple of hits have still gotten through. Her vampiric regeneration has handled those fine, but she's not making any progress like this, and her grimace says that she knows it.

"Even if she could hurt it by whistling or singing or something, I'm pretty sure she doesn't know the tune," you continue.

"Yeah," Briar agrees.

"What should she be doing, then?"

The fairy seems to shrug. "Standard hit it until it dies tactics, go for the eye, and try not to get zapped or turned into a pincushion in the process."

That's remarkably unhelpful.
Demons generally are.
For better or for worse, though, Kahlua appears to have reached the same conclusion. With Digdogger having demonstrated that it can just keep zapping away at her indefinitely, Kahlua has moved back into the monster's line of sight, baiting the beast into using its more powerful and draining attack. Digdogger obliges, concentrating its power and firing off the larger spheres, but this time, Kahlua runs straight ahead when the attack is launched, moving down the single line of approach that is not filled with menacing spikes.

Digdogger's huge eye blinks once, as if in surprise, and then snaps shut to protect itself from the incoming fists. While this has the added effect of swinging a dozen or more spines Kahlua's way, she's already too close, inside the range of the dangerous tips; the shafts of the over-sized bristles brush against her and then bounce back the way they came.

Kahlua's armored fist sinks into Digdogger's eyelid, the dark, writhing hide deforming under the impact in a manner that reminds you of the first blow she landed on King Dodongo.

And then, just as happened with the Infernal Dinosaur, Kahlua's arm is forced back as the Mysterious Evil Eye's body rebounds like rubber.

That toxic green energy starts to crackle around the spines again, and while it doesn't seem to shock Kahlua despite some of those conductive spokes brushing against her, she moves to fall back to a safer distance - only to stumble in mid-stride as Digdogger's eye snaps back open, staring directly at her.

The motion, revealing as it does what almost has to be the creature's physical weak-spot, clearly startles Kahlua. She doesn't stop moving, but it's obvious that she's asking herself why in the world Digdogger would expose a vulnerability like that when its enemy is within striking distance.

The Gauntlets come up-

!

-and the green energy gathering around Digdogger's body coalesces at the points of the spines directly surrounding its eye. Kahlua's own eyes widen in realization, and there is a *CLANG* as she abandons thoughts of offense and drops into a crouch, bringing her forearms together in front of her head and upper body.

Digdogger seems to flinch at the clear, high sound, but it's not enough to stop the monster.

*FLASH*

With a dazzling flare of light, the Evil Eye fires off a laser-like beam of energy over a foot across, which strikes Kahlua's upraised guard-

The beam SPLITS on impact with the Hylian steel, and thinner rays are reflected in a dozen different directions, slashing across sand and stone and even Digdogger's own body!

-and flings her, screaming, across the room. Although Kahlua manages to keep the Warrior Princess Gauntlets between her and the bulk of the split-second blast, her brief backwards flight ends with a reverse tumble that turns into an unpleasant skid along the sand. When she fetches up against the wall, all of two seconds later, you can see fast-fading bruises, abrasions that weep bloodstained sand even as they close over, and burn marks along Kahlua's shoulders and torso, where Digdogger's death ray got around or through the gaps in her defense.

Those injuries are NOT healing, and you don't think that they're going to, not until the Trials end.

"A LOT more dangerous than it looks," Sokka states grimly.

---

As Kahlua picks herself up, you ask Briar how Digdogger reacts to magic, just on the off-chance that you ever have to fight one of the bug-eyed floating monsters yourself.

"They've got some resistance," Briar admits. "Not as bad as a dragon's or an Ironknuckle's, but enough that you'd want to take it into account. It has to do with the way they manipulate magic within and around themselves to generate those attacks."

That would make some sense. You've seen how Digdogger channels energy through and around itself to concentrate its attacks; if it can do the reverse of that with enemy magic, spreading out spells so that they affect a larger volume, there'd be an unavoidable loss in intensity at any given point. Couple that with the simple bulk of the beast, and it could likely tank a traditional Fireball with little or no real harm, while more indirect effects would be much more prone to failing altogether.

Further questions are momentarily put on hold as, down in the arena, Kahlua glares at Digdogger and reaches up to remove her remaining earring.

Once again, dark youki seems to fill the chamber around her, intense enough that the remote image being displayed for the audience is momentarily washed out by a bloody haze. When the aura clears, Kahlua's appearance has changed: her normal tan skin-tone has taken on a ruddy copper hue; her hair is more of a strawberry-blonde than the usual pale yellow; and her eyes are pure crimson.

You have just enough time to note that every visible scrape and bruise on her person is gone before Kahlua disappears from her starting point, moving with such sudden speed that the sand she was standing on explodes into a cloud of dust.

In spite of the vampire's sharply increased speed, there is enough room between her and her foe for Digdogger to slam its eye shut once again before she can reach it.

This doesn't seem to particularly inconvenience Kahlua. She reappears in the same spot she occupied before, close enough that the Hyrulean monster's spines brush against her arms instead of spearing her through - except for the pair that Kahlua reaches out and seizes with one hand each.

And then snaps in half.

Digdogger's body trembles and gives off a low, warbling noise that you assume is its expression of either pain or annoyance.

When Kahlua turns her makeshift spears around and stabs them into their former owner's flesh, the subsequent, louder warble makes you settle on "pain."

Digdogger rotates upwards and to its right, trying to get its injury out of Kahlua's reach, but the vampire does not let go of her improvised weapons, and they're sturdy enough to bear her modest weight - albeit not without flexing somewhat. She's pulled into the air, and hangs there as Digdogger continues its relatively slow movement, which takes her higher up and further along.

When Kahlua is more or less "above" Digdogger, she lets go of the spines and allows herself to drop all of two feet, so that she's standing on the monster's body.

Then she seizes another quill, snaps it off, and stabs it into the organic mass, using both hands to drive it as deep as possible.

Moan as it may, you don't think Kahlua's managed to pierce Digdogger's eyeball yet. Her improvised weapons are only biting so deep, and the monster's hide is thick and resilient, even the relatively thin protective layer currently covering its eye. The first two spikes are already starting to be forced out by the rubbery flesh, and the lack of vital fluids welling up around them implies they didn't manage to puncture anything important. The third... isn't moving, which may be a good sign for your friend.

Digdogger's rotation shifts and speeds up, trying to shake its unwanted passenger off, but the huge monster really isn't very fast, and its version of "wild thrashing" might not be enough to throw a human, much less a vampire.

Kahlua snaps a fourth spine, but before she can stab Digdogger with it, sickly green light has begun to crackle along and around the monster's body once more. Some of that poisonous-looking energy leaps from the nearest intact spikes to the broken length Kahlua holds, following random, writhing paths that inevitably lead straight to her armored hands.

Small as they are, the first few bolts are more - ahem - shocking than harmful, but as more and more follow them, you see Kahlua's hands start to twitch, and then tremble. She grits her teeth, forces her hands to steady, and before Digdogger's interference can get any worse, she raises the spine - staticky green aura and all - and plunges it home with both hands.

Digdogger's eye SNAPS open as it lets out its loudest and most obviously pained cry yet - and this, at last, proves enough to dislodge Kahlua's footing, casting her sidelong into several intact spines.

There is a flash as the built-up energy clinging to those quills discharges all at once, but while the shock is intense enough that Kahlua's back arches in a brief, uncontrolled spasm, she recovers swiftly, shedding but a few tears as she leaps forward, abandoning any thought of securing another weapon in favor of driving her fists-

!

-make that stabbing her steel-shod FINGERS right into Digdogger's EYE.

Zelda makes a sound of genuine discomfort as she claps her left hand over her eyes - middle and ring fingers spread just far enough apart that her right eye can keep watching through the gap.

She is not the only one in the audience doing so. Most of the adults are visibly discomfited by Kahlua's choice of tactics, even if half of them are also nodding in recognition and approval.

Somewhat oddly, Gyokuro shows neither reaction. Her expression is neither a smile nor a frown, but simply, purely intent, her eyes never once moving away from her firstborn.

Digdogger's alien scream is accompanied by another intense flash of green, as it fires its primary weapon for the second time. The eye-laser is much less coherent than before, more of a broad cone than a focused beam, raw power sacrificed for greater area. It makes sense: the first incarnation of the death ray formed more or less directly over Digdogger's pupil; and Kahlua is on the lower part of the white area of the eye.

Lack of focus or no, pain and desperation appear to have allowed Digdogger to channel enough force into the attack for it to do the desired job, as Kahlua is blown off her feet - and the body beneath them - into a ballistic arc that carries her ten feet up, then twenty feet down, and some fifteen feet away from where she started. Smoke trails from her body and clothes all over as she flies through the air, but despite that, she makes a four-point landing, skidding backwards only a short distance before she all but claws herself to a stop.

Then Kahlua pushes off with all fours, flinging herself back at her enemy ahead of another exploding plume of displaced sand.

Digdogger is rising slowly higher off the floor, eye blinking furiously and weeping a clear, jelly-like fluid, but it's only added a couple of feet of altitude since dislodging its assailant. This isn't nearly enough height to stop a vampire from leaping back aboard.
Watch out for the-!
The quills might have managed that, except that when they pierce Kahlua's body, the sharp tips sink deep into the girl's slender form, emerge on the other side, and finally pass through altogether as she keeps moving forward, leaving no visible injury behind. It's like watching a solid object pass through some thick, not-quite-liquid substance, and you find it all too easy to imagine it accompanied by a horrible wet *SCHLORP* noise, as of mud seeking to suck down and devour an unfortunate rain-boot.
Okay, that is... really kind of disturbing to watch.
...you suspect you probably shouldn't mention that particular bit of imagery to Kahlua.

Unfortunate aesthetics aside, Kahlua's supercharged regeneration ensures she takes effectively no harm from Digdogger's spines. She does lose some momentum, which means instead of neatly leaping back onto her lost perch, she has to climb the last couple of feet, but it's not like there aren't plenty of handholds for her to use.

Kahlua snaps off another spike and hauls herself over to Digdogger's eye, which is still blinking, pain preventing it from closing all the way. The vampire waits, measuring the erratic opening and closing of the elastic armored eyelid, and then thrusts.

And then, as Digdogger emits another warbling wail, Kahlua pulls back her crude spear just in time to avoid getting it snapped in two by the closing of the monster's eye, and repeats the action.

She loses most of the spear after that, but settles for just savaging the wounded, weeping eyeball with her hands.

Weirdly-colored gas unexpectedly erupts from Digdogger's body, and Kahlua falls back to the sand with a surprised cry as the enormous entity shrivels up beneath her. When the cloud of smoke clears a moment later, Digdogger is still present, but much smaller: its eye, previously wider than Kahlua is tall, is now not much bigger than a medicine ball; and its body has shrunk proportionately, leaving the entire monster perhaps six feet in diameter. Only the spines remain undiminished, now clustered together so tightly that not a patch of hide is visible between them.

The transformation seems to have healed Digdogger, because it is an intact eye that glares furiously down at the vampire.

Then it snaps shut, right before the body rushes at her in a surprisingly swift ramming maneuver.

The fight doesn't last much longer from there. Although Kahlua needs a bit of time to get used to Digdogger's increased speed and test it for any other changes in its capabilities, she quickly discovers that its not-inconsiderable speed boost came at the cost of much of its energy-generating power, as well as its size. The beast can still shoot off energy balls, but they're fewer in number, limited to volleys of three or so before it needs to recharge. The death ray makes no reappearance, and the all-round barrage fire is likewise gone.

Digdogger's increased speed, denser defense, and smaller vulnerable area make it harder to hit, but not impossible, and its quills are no more effective against Kahlua's fully-unsealed state now than they were a moment ago.

It takes Kahlua a few attempts to get a solid grip on Digdogger, one attempt failing due to misjudged speed, another because she lost her grip raising a Gauntlet to deflect a counter-attack, and the third because she got overeager and broke the quills.

On her fourth try, however, Kahlua manages to grab Digdogger just long enough to swing it around and down into the floor. Then, while it's struggling to extract its quills from where they'd been jammed in the sand, she closes in and drives a knife-hand straight into its eye.

Digdogger's ocular organ bursts like a balloon full of slime.

With that, Kahlua's Seventh Trial comes to an end.

The next terrain shift drops Kahlua off in another location that you've all seen before, a rocky island surrounded by lava, whose appearance prompts another cry of envious protest from Akua.

Once again, a fiery red serpent emerges from its underground lair, coiling end over end as it rises through the heat-warped air, before coming to a halt and staring down at the girl below with menace and challenge.

SUBTERRANEAN LAVA DRAGON: VOLVAGIA

This time, however, the challenger is not forced by injury to yield before the battle begins.

Kahlua meets the dragon's gaze and assumes a stance.

The roar Volvagia lets out seems approving, and eager.

Then it charges her.

The fight is brutal. Kahlua is now fighting at her full strength, which a few misplaced blows show is enough to leave craters in the volcanic stone. Volvagia is no less powerful, a casual swipe of its claws rending the rock as it soars past Kahlua, while a blow from its tail shakes the entire room and causes rocks to fall from the shadowed ceiling.

Where the vampire moves, an almost-visble wind whips through the intensely hot air of the lava chamber.

Where the dragon alights, rock groans under the weight, hissing and popping as the monser's searing aura scorches everything nearby.

When the vampire slams a punch into the side of her enemy's head, the shockwave can be seen moving through Volvagia's serpentine body, from whiskered snout to tail-tip.

When the dragon breathes, Kahlua scrambles frantically aside as the stone where she stood - and everything AROUND it - melts into a pool of glowing slag.

Hylian steel hammers draconic scale with a sound like two smiths competing to see who can hammer the most iron.

Rending claws pass through liquefied flesh, drawing not a drop of blood.

For a time, it seems like an even match.

But then, you notice that Kahlua is starting to falter. Her movements are slower, her blows less powerful. More than that, her breath is coming harder and less evenly.

It takes you a moment to realize the problem, but when you see her Gauntlets starting to glow the faintest red where they have touched Volvagia, you understand.

Previously, Kahlua was able to fight King Dodongo in a lava chamber with no obvious concern for the heat or the volcanic gasses, but Volvagia's lair is on another level. There are no convenient holes in the ceiling to allow any of the murderous atmosphere to escape, or let fresher, cooler air to be sucked back in. The stone of the island, though it offers some shield against the crushing heat radiating off of the main mass of lava that surrounds it, provides no similar protection from the holes that riddle its surface - lava tubes filled by molten rock that is almost level with the stone around it.

And then there is Volvagia itself, whose searing aura hammers at Kahlua without respite every second that it is above ground, and backs every blow it lands.

The dragon's claws COOK as they cut.

And Hylian steel, despite its outstanding properties, conducts extremes of temperature all too readily.

Soon, Kahlua is forced to abandon blocking her enemy's attacks in favor of dodging them all; it is the only way to give her Gauntlets time to cool off between blows, without also letting up the pressure and yielding initiative to the dragon.

She can't quite avoid all of Volvagia's swift strikes, however, and though not a drop of blood is shed in the process, you can only imagine how it must BOIL.

Even when Kahlua manages not to take a hit, it does nothing to protect her from the crushing heat of Volvagia's aura, or the steadily dropping level of breatheable air.

The undead vampires can function without oxygen.

The living vampires cannot.
Good try, Vampire Princess.
When she staggers and drops to a knee a minute later, Kahlua has the presence of mind to recognize the problem, and the good sense not to stubbornly fight on until she falls flat on her face.
Better luck next time.
Instead, she draws herself up, admits her loss, and offers Volvagia a bright smile and the best curtsey her rather ragged outfit will allow.

"Thank you for the fight!"
...really?
You can almost see Volvagia's eyebrow arching as it considers that reaction.
Aren't you the one who's always saying manners are important?
Then the dragon nods.
This is NOT what I meant, and you know it.
A moment later, Kahlua is standing on the sandy floor of the physical arena, sealing earrings once again in place, clothes fully repaired, and hair, skin, and eyes back to their customary, paler hues.

She has a moment to get her bearings - and enjoy being out of that volcanic heat - before her family arrives.

"You fought a dragon!" Kokoa exclaims, as she repeats Moka's earlier feat of tackling her older sister. "You fought a dinosaur AND a dragon! That was so cool!"

Kahlua smiles down at her younger, full-blooded sibling, clearly pleased as anything by Kokoa's praise. Before she can say anything, however, her mother arrives, and Kahlua straightens slightly.

Where Akasha all but bowled Akua over with maternal concern, Gyokuro merely looks Kahlua over once, gaze coming to rest on the girl's cross-shaped earrings - specifically, the one she wears in her left ear, and removed second.

Kahlua... doesn't quite fidget under her mother's eye, as she says, "I didn't beat the dragon."

"No, you didn't," Gyokuro agrees. "However, seeing as how I've never even had the opportunity to FIGHT a dragon, you're doing better than me."

Kahlua blinks, visibly perplexed as to how to respond to that.

Then Gyokuro smiles and steps forward to give her a hug. "You did fine, Kahlua." Pulling back a bit, she frowns down at Kahlua's Gauntlets and adds, "We're going to have to work harder on incorporating your equipment into your fighting style, though."

Smiling faintly, Kahlua rests her forehead against her mother's shoulder and murmurs an obedient, "Yes, Mother."

---

Gyokuro's comment makes this as good a time as any to talk to Kahlua about upgrading her Gauntlets.

You give the Shuzens some time to themselves, and once it seems that Kahlua has received all her well-earned accolades - but before Elder Terok moves in to present her with her prize - you cast the Spell of the Message, designating Kahlua and her mother as the recipients.

While this isn't a secret issue, it doesn't need to be overheard by the audience at large, either.

Then you whisper, "Hey, Kahlua."

She and Gyokuro both look up at where you're standing. "Yes, Alex?"

"First of all, and I'm sorry if I wasn't supposed to hear this, Mrs. Shuzen," you preemptively apologize, "but I agree with your mother; you did fine, and you've got no reason to be upset about not beating Volvagia."

Gyokuro waves off the apology.

Kahlua blinks. "Is that the dragon's name?"

"Yeah."

"...it suits him," she says after a moment. "It just SOUNDS fearsome."

"Yeah. He's only been beaten twice that I know of, and both times were by people who were not only supernaturally resistant to the heat and atmosphere, but also wielding powerful magic weapons."

As the legendary nemesis of the Goron people, the Dragon of Death Mountain had a couple of pages dedicated to him in the Holy Books. The references to the Ancient Goron Hero were brief anecdotes, far more myth than fact, but his use of the so-called Megaton Hammer to slay Volvagia the first time was borne out by the actions of the much-later Hero of Time, who carried out the same deed in the same manner.

Or so the text claims.

Gained Hyrulean History E

Navi could tell you the truth of that battle.

"And the other thing?" Kahlua asks.

"That also ties in to what your mother just said," you tell her, "though I've been thinking about it since you fought Levoknuckle. That Trial and the ones after it made it pretty clear that the Warrior Princess Gauntlets don't mesh all that well with your fighting style, and as the one who made the Gauntlets, that's on me. In my own defense, I didn't find out that you could shapeshift until AFTER I'd already made them, and it's hard to say if my item-crafting skills would have been good enough to address the problem then. That said, I've had most of a year to practice that particular skillset, and as things stand NOW, I should be able to work out a way for the Gauntlets to at least let you use your arm-blades while you're wearing them." You pause to take a breath, and then say, "That is, if you want me to."

Kahlua lifts her left hand, glancing at the shining steel Gauntlet for a moment, and then turns back to you.

"Would this count as 'repairs,' like we talked about yesterday?" she asks, eyes narrowing intently. "Or would it be more of a 'gift?'"

...clever girl.

On the one hand, yes, you did tell Kahlua that you'd be charging her family the full price of any repair work you had to do on her Gauntlets and other gifts you made for them. But does it really count as "repairs" when you're the one that gave her an unsuitable gift in the first place? True, it was a mistake of simple ignorance on your part, not cheapness or malice, but even so, by making this offer in the first place, you've accepted and admitted that the onus is on you to correct your error. And trying to get people to pay you to fix your own mistake could easily be taken as bad business...

What's your decision?

---

...yeah, you don't really see the point in questioning Navi about something that touches on such a sensitive personal matter. Not unless she brings it up in conversation first.

By the same token, you're not going to send one of your friends to pester her about it. You don't want to get Kahlua into hot water with the Great Fairy any more than you want to be there yourself - and seeing as how Kahlua's knowledge of a bit of Hyrulean history nobody on Earth should be aware of would paint a straight line back to you, NOT bringing up the subject benefits you twice over.

So you don't.

Some quick mental math suggests that the task of adding a minor metamorphic magic to Kahlua's Warrior Princess Gauntlets should only cost you $500 or so in materials and labor. Seeing as how you outsource the majority of your reagents to Hyrule, that's about five Green Rupees' worth of stuff. It wouldn't take a great deal of time, either - more than you can spare while your birthday party is ongoing, even if you had a workshop around here, but once you're home, it'll be a matter of a few days at most.

All things considered, you have no issue with making this upgrade a gift to Kahlua, and covering the costs out of your own pocket.

"Although that having been said," you add, "if there are any other modifications or adjustments you're thinking of having made, like, say, a layer of insulation to help deal with the conductivity issue? That WILL cost. Either cash or suitable materials."
What are we giving her? Another Keese?
Kahlua just smiles brightly.
She'd probably like that, but she DID turn in a slightly better performance than her sister, so something a little more is in order.
Elder Terok, having come over during your murmured conversation, clears his throat. "If you're finished...?"
I KNOW you're not suggesting we give her a Fire Keese.
You are, and Kahlua passes that on to the Goron priest, who in turn gets on with invoking the Goddesses to bestow their chosen reward upon the latest soul to face the Ring of Trials.
No, I had something else in mind.
It's another young bat, but it's not a Keese. Its proportions are different, the eyes smaller, darker, and less adorably innocent - though still very cute and fluffy, in the manner common to most young mammals. Probing a little closer, you pick up a hint of intelligence that Akua's Keese lacks, as well as magic - just a tiny spark, with the potential to grow alongside the creature's mental capacity.

"An Ache, huh?" Briar muses. "I suppose that IS a step up from a Keese."

You take a moment to consult your memories of the Hyrulean Bestiary. As Briar says, Aches are effectively larger and tougher Keese; known as "the Eyes of Ganon," their added intelligence is sufficient for them to learn and speak languages, which - combined with their keen hearing, small size, and ability to fly - makes them rather good spies. Some of the older and stronger Aches develop simple Transformation Magic, allowing them to take on human - or rather, Hylian - forms, and the very strongest can become what's known as an "Acheman," a shape-changing, fire-spitting gargoyle-like creature similar to the Vire Akua fought. Just not as powerful.

You don't think Kahlua's new pet will ever develop into an Acheman. Those things are classified as minor demons by the Holy Books, and this Baby Ache feels entirely like an animal - a magical animal, that may well become a person in its own right once it's old enough, but definitely not a demon.

Akua and Kahlua, you note, are visibly comparing their new pets, which are in turn inspecting each other. There don't appear to be any hard feelings over someone getting the "better" bat-monster, whether you define "better" as bigger and stronger or smaller and cuter.

As the ever-expanding Shuzen family make their way out of the arena, the next of the challengers enters. There's been some ongoing debate among the younger crowd to sort out who gets to go next, and it appears that Ayane has won the argument.

"How many rounds do you want to face, Ayane?" you call down.

"I think six should be enough for me, Alex," she replies.

...you were wondering who would be the first to bow out of attempting to run the entire gauntlet. That it's Ayane is perhaps a little surprising, as she's never given the impression of being any less confident or aggressive than your other friends.

Then again, she IS a ninja. Knowing when a fight is unnecessary or simply unwinnable, and how to avoid it, would be part of the job.

When the young kunoichi enters the Ring, she is transported to an area that seems to be on the fringes of a desert, with low, scrubby grass rising where and there amid dry earth and wind-blown sand. Her opponent stands across from her, a furry humanoid with a head somewhere between a rodent's and a canine's - or maybe a hyena's? It wears a simple blue tunic over its greyish fur, and has leather bands strapped about its wrists and ankles, but the most distinctive element of its appearance - and the one that immediately gives away its identity - is the boomerangs it carries in each clawed hand, as well as tucked into sheathes on its belt and a bandoleer running across its chest.

BOOMERANG DEVIL: GORIYA

"Boomerang brother!" Sokka cries, leaping from his seat.

"It's magical Australia," Dave blurts out in sudden realization.

Balthazar sighs. "Dave..."

"No, no, everything makes SENSE if it's magical Australia!"

A good part of Ayane's First Trial is fought at range, her kunai against the Goriya's boomerangs. Each side of the contest has its advantages and disadvantages: Ayane's weapons move in straight lines, making them slightly faster to reach their target than the curving arcs the Goriya's projectiles follow, but also somewhat easier to predict; the kunai have a variety of poisonous payloads, while the boomerangs can only inflict physical trauma; and where a boomerang can at least potentially return to its thrower on a miss, the kunai are effectively lost once thrown.

Gained Thrown Weapons Training E

For all the time she spends throwing kunai and dodging boomerangs, however, you notice Ayane getting steadily closer to the Goriya. The monster notices, too, but the extent of its reaction is to draw out a larger boomerang that looks sharpened on both sides, and take a swing at the girl with it when she gets too close.

Ayane dodges around the blow easily enough, and responds with a kick to the face that sends the little devil staggering to its left.

...to add insult to injury, one of the Goriya's boomerangs comes swooping back to it then, and whacks it across the top of the head.

Dazed and disoriented, the Goriya manages to make one more wild swing before Ayane disarms it of its main weapon, and proceeds to beat the crap out of it. The monster does try to put up a fight, but while it has claws, it's clearly not as good at using them as it is at throwing boomerangs around - certainly not good enough to stop a capable kunoichi with a preference for kicking people in the head.

Sokka groans and falls back into his seat, hands over his face. "Orphaned, again..."

Katara drops a ball of water on him.

The sandy knolls disappear not long after that, replaced by a grassy hill with a few trees growing nearby. The sky is once again dark, filled by stars and a great gibbous moon.

Ayane immediately casts her gaze to the ground, no doubt recalling Altria's battle with the Stalfos, but the skeletal monsters fail to erupt from the earth. Instead, she looks up with an expression of puzzlement, head tilted to one side as if listening.

You do likewise, and can just make out a faint jangling sound...

...and maybe a giggle?

The sound seems to be coming from the direction of the trees, and when Ayane turns to confront it, a ghostly glow becomes visible beyond the trunks and branches. When she moves closer, kunai held at the ready, an old-fashioned lantern drifts into view, floating back and forth, the candle within casting a pallid greenish light.

Then, with another giggle, the spirit phases into view. It is a classic wraith-like entity, little more than a dark shadow cloaked in ragged robes, with two eyes glowing beneath a hood. One hand - wrapped in tattered, dirty bandages - holds the lantern high, while the other simply waggles its fingers as the spirit gives off an eerie moan.

Then it throws back its head and cackles gleefully.

MISCHIEVOUS WANDERING SOUL: POE

This fight lasts somewhat longer than the battle with the Goriya, largely because the Poe can - and does - phase out of the physical plane and into the ethereal realm in a heartbeat whenever it perceives a threat. Ayane's kunai aren't magical, meaning they can't harm the ghost once it's become wholly immaterial, and while she's fast enough to get a few hits in before the Poe vanishes, they don't seem to do much damage.

Which is fair, as it IS already dead. Poison will have no effect whatsoever, and the threat of a sharpened piece of steel is limited when the target has neither blood to spill nor vitals to pierce.

Despite those advantages, the Poe isn't such a powerful phantom that it can interact with the physical realm without being there, and so it has to periodically phase back into visibility to take its own shots at Ayane. About a third of these are attempts to bash her over the head with its lantern, while the rest involve producing eerie green fire from the lantern in some manner, whether that's casting sparks by waving it around, blowing into it to create a hissing plume, or reaching in directly to pluck out a handful of fire and fling it.

Given how all of the Poe's attacks revolve around its lantern, it's little wonder that Ayane ends up focusing her efforts on taking the black iron and foggy glass construct away from the ghost. The Poe resists all such attempts, sometimes teasingly dangling the lantern just out of Ayane's reach, and others yanking it out of harm's way with wide, startled eyes.

Eventually, the spirit's best efforts fail to prevent Ayane from getting her hands on the lantern. At that point, she has little trouble wrenching it out of the Poe's grasp; the spirit's manifest form isn't any bigger than the small Japanese girl, and a lot less solid.

The Poe has just enough time to screech in protest before Ayane smashes the lantern on a nearby rock as hard as she can.

One strike shatters the glass.

The second, made while casually dodging a hasty, wailing rush from the Poe, dislodges the corpse-candle from its mounting.

And the third, accompanied by a final, frantic wail, breaks the iron frame open, allowing the candle to spill out.

As soon as it hits the ground, the ghoulish green glow goes OUT.

Still wailing, the Poe vanishes into the ether.

The environment shifts, moving Ayane from a nighttime field to another stone-walled chamber. Yet again, the decor here is distinct from the similar rooms that have come before, consisting of many colorful characters painted on the massive stone blocks that make up the walls, an abundance of gold decor including four looming, animal-headed statues in the corners, and of course, an ornate sarcophagus standing in a place of prominence at the other end of the room. There's also a large pool of something green, luminescent, and just plain nasty-looking bubbling away in the middle of the chamber.

"Is she in Egypt, now?" Larry wonders.

You can't blame your friend for making the comparison, because there is definitely a resemblance between the room you're all looking at and the stereotypical Egyptian tomb. The huge cauldron, or whatever it is, is a bit out of place, but aside from that, this scene would be right at home in any cartoon where the Villain of the Week lived in a pyramid.

Particularly when the sarcophagus slides open with the slow grating noise of stone on stone, revealing a heavily-bandaged humanoid figure half-standing, half-laying within, head bowed and arms folded across its chest. The lifeless corpse's empty eye glow an unholy red, and it rises from its slumber, arms extending towards Ayane as it takes a slow, shambling step forward.

ANCIENT DEAD: GIBDO

"Oh, come on!" Cordelia bursts out. "Horror movie cliche, much?"

---

"Cliches exist for a reason, Cordy," you call down. "And Gibdos are scarier than they look..."

"They'd almost have to be," she retorts.

For her part, Ayane considers the slow, moaning advance of the Hyrulean mummy for a moment, and experimentally flings a kunai at it. The Gibdo makes no attempt to dodge the attack, which strikes it in the throat, right over the major artery.

Despite the direct hit on what WOULD be a vital spot for any living target, the mummified monster doesn't flinch, hesitate, or even stop moaning. Heck, it doesn't even change pitch; it just keeps walking forward.

Ayane appears to have expected something of the kind, because she doesn't waste time or ammo by throwing more kunai at the monster.

Instead, she heads over to the wall and investigates the nearest of the torches. They're ensconced at the level of a grown man's shoulder, which is high enough off the ground to make them awkward for a short young Japanese girl to reach, but Ayane IS a ninja, and an easy jump is all the extra height she needs.

Sliding the torch free of its chain, the kunoichi-trainee drops back to the ground and turns to confront the Gibdo, flaming brand in hand.

The Gibdo's advance finally pauses as it sees the fire, and the pitch of its wordless groan changes as its outstretched hands shift into a defensive posture.

You can almost hear the words, "Fire... bad!"

From the way she dashes forward to set the mummy's wrappings on fire, Ayane was hearing the same thing.

The ancient, desiccated cloth catches fire instantly, and within seconds, the Gibdo's entire body has been enveloped by flame.

"Oooh, it had better not be THAT easy," Kahlua protests, hugging her new pet bat with a sulky expression.
It's not.
It's not, and you know it. The Gibdo obligingly flails around for a few seconds, thrashing and wailing in a most dramatic fashion, but as heavy as its wrappings were, there's still only so much material. It's already falling away in clumps, some still burning, others just drifting ash. Ayane's single kunai clatters to the dusty stone floor as the thick, stiff material that had held it in place is consumed.

But the body beneath those burning bindings survives the brief blaze. What little grey-brown flesh still clings to ancient bones is streaked with black where the heat seared and scorched, but the withered corpse remains more or less intact, if hunched over and trembling, both arms wrapped defensively around its head.

Ayane didn't relinquish her torch after igniting the Gibdo's wrappings, but she does shift it to her left hand now, so that she can draw another blade with her dominant right. And it IS a blade, not merely a kunai, but a proper knife.

Armed with steel and fire, the young ninja moves to re-engage, footsteps silent - and yet the Gibdo senses her approach.

The undead monster rises to its full height and lowers its arms, revealing a strange burial mask shaped to resemble a wailing, empty-eyed visage. The masked head turns to one side at an almost unnatural angle, regarding the incoming girl.

And then it SHRIEKS.

A mass flinch shoots through the audience at the sound, but the effect on Ayane is worse. Between one stride and the next, her body locks up and falls to the floor, torch and knife dropping from trembling hands. Ayane didn't quite fall on her face, and you can see her red eyes staring around, wide with shock and something that isn't precisely fear.

"Gah," Navi complains, with a shudder that extends right to the tips of her wings. "I HATE it when they do that."

Its enemy down, the Gibdo - or should you call it a Redead, now? - resumes its advance. Its stride is a little less lumbering than a moment earlier, but it's still far from swift, thanks to stiff joints and rigid tendons. The slow, clumsy shamble should be humorous, but with Ayane just laying there, shaking, it's really, really not.

Fortunately for Ayane, the effects of a Gibdo/Redead's paralyzing attack is only temporary. She's twice lucky in that the undead monster was far enough away for her to recover from the quaking paralysis and scramble back to her feet before her foe managed to strike - though that's a near thing, the Gibdo having gotten close enough to grab at the girl.

Just as well, then, that Ayane chooses that moment to finally pull out the Body Flicker.

The Gibdo's grasping hands close about empty air as the kunoichi vanishes, and for a moment, you can see the monster staring blankly, dumbfounded by the disappearance of its victim.

Then she hits it from behind, knife and torch replaced by a pair of kunai, held to stab rather than be thrown.

Now that she's experienced the Gibdo's most dangerous attack, Ayane knows not to let herself get caught in it a second time. She strikes with all the force and fury she can muster, stabbing with kunai until they get stuck between dusty old bones, then falling back on punches and kicks. The flurry of blows she unleashes would have brought most adult humans down, and no few monsters, but Gibdos are infamously among Hyrule's creatures for their sheer physical resilience. Even the Master Sword needs more than a few blows to bring one of the mummified monsters down; the unarmed strikes of a young girl, whatever her training, are simply not going to get the job done.

Barely registering even the strongest of Ayane's blows, the Gibdo staggers around, and SCREAMS anew.

But this time, Ayane knew what was coming, and did not allow herself to stay within easy grabbing range; she vanishes in a burst of smoke, trading places with-

!

-her dropped torch, a fact which has the Gibdo recoiling in slow but genuine terror.

And then Ayane hits the monster from behind again, this time wielding her recovered knife. THAT weapon bites deeper than her fists and feet could, and more reliably than her kunai, and finally starts doing real damage.

It takes more blows than you can count, but Ayane has her enemy's measure now, and an incredible speed advantage besides. That's doubly important, for despite the ear-piercing shriek that accompanies its paralyzing attack, it's the eyeless gaze of the Gibdo that truly channels its most dangerous power. It can scream all it likes; if it can't lay its eyes on Ayane, it can't freeze her blood.

And it doesn't.

At last, one final stab with the knife brings the Gibdo down, and the monster slowly topples to the stone floor, groaning all the way.

Gained Knife Training F (Plus)

Ayane is still breathing a bit hard when her environment changes again. The first thing she does is blanch and cover her mouth and nose, suggesting that the dark, green-streaked purple murk covering most of the floor of the wooden-walled chamber in which she stands smells at least as bad as it looks. The only part of the room that isn't drowned by that unpleasant bubbling mire of uncertain depth is where Ayane stands, a mix of dirt, stubby grass, and planks of wood forming a platform some thirty feet across, and projecting maybe half that distance out from the "wall" - which really looks more like the bark of some immense tree.

For all you know, it is. Hyrulean magic can do some seriously crazy stuff with plants.
Yes. Yes it can.
Aside from the dry area, there are a couple of logs floating more or less in place in the muck, several wooden chutes high up on the back wall from which far cleaner water spills into the toxic-looking pool, and two framed balconies on opposite sides of the chamber.

Ayane takes all this in herself, holding her breath as she reaches into one pocket and pulls out a small mask, which she quickly sets over her lower face and then ties firmly into place.
I see the girl believes in being prepared.
She's just finished doing that when two overgrown Deku Baba rise from the mire, dark greenish water sloughing off their tough hides. They stand there for a moment, silently menacing.

TWILIT PARASITE: DIABABA

Then the one on the left lunges forward, slime-dripping maw opening wide to snap at Ayane.

She avoids the attack easily enough, sinking a kunai down the Baba's throat in the process, though to no better effect than her opening attack on the Gibdo. Ayane's eyes stray to one of the burning braziers that flank the circular door behind her, but she shakes her head, apparently put off from trying to light this monster on fire by the dampness of the room, or the presence of so much wood.

Another minute of dodging and probing attacks establishes that the monstrous plants don't have any special abilities other than biting, but also that their flesh is too tough for kunai to penetrate.

Ayane shrugs, pulls out a kunai with a tag attached, and flings that down the throat of one of the Babas the next time it lunges at her.

The tag subsequently explodes, apparently knocking the Deku Baba senseless and sending it, smoking, back into the mire.

The second plant follows in short order, and for a moment, all is still.

Then the bubbling within the muck intensifies, to the point where the foul water almost seems to be boiling. A shadow becomes dimly visible below the surface, increasing in size as it rises from the bottom of the mire, and then emerging with a roar as the true form of the monster Ayane has been toying with is revealed. Its body is a single "trunk," the bottom swollen and oozing foul slime, while the top curls forward in a serpentine matter, armor-like plates of thick bark covering the back for protection. At the end of this "neck" hangs another Deku Baba, bloated even larger than the two previous snapping maws, which are now revealed as the "arms" of the mutant plant.

The lower jaw of the central bulb splits along the middle as it opens its maw to screech at Ayane, revealing a single bulging eyeball within, glowing orange and yellow around the slitted pupil.

"What IS it with all the eyes!?" Cecilia bursts out. "Why do all these horrible monsters have great staring eyeballs where there shouldn't be any!?"

Ayane's response, meanwhile, is to fling another explosive kunai down the vegetable menace's "throat."
Ha!
It proves to be a good call, as the ensuing explosion stuns the beast, bringing it down with a great splash and a heavy thud, eyeball-tongue dangling temptingly from slack jaws. Ayane draws her knife and goes to work, but the glassy organ proves to be made of sterner stuff than Digdogger's eye - or maybe it's just that the kunoichi can't strike as hard as a fully-unsealed young vampire, wearing a pair of Hylian steel gauntlets?

That's pretty likely, actually.

Regardless, when Ayane finds that she can't puncture Diababa's eye with her knife, she falls back on trying to hack through the stalk supporting it. She only gets in a few blows on the rubbery material before the pain has the beast rallying and withdrawing.

Although Ayane's knife didn't penetrate too deeply, Diababa was definitely oozing more than just drool towards the end there.

Perhaps because Diababa's smaller heads displayed the same manner of rapid regeneration you saw when Altria tried to prune the Manhandla, Ayane initially holds back on expending more of her exploding kunai against them, instead focusing on dodging their lunging bites and the central head's periodic spraying of a bilious purple liquid - which almost HAS to be poisonous - while she waits for Diababa to expose its eye again.

It doesn't oblige her, and she responds to that by flinging another blasting kunai against the side of the central head.

That's enough to dizzy the monster, but not quite sufficient to knock it over, so Ayane binds two of her dwindling supply of exploding kunai together, and throws them as one.

THAT finally generates enough of a shock to penetrate Diababa's rubbery flesh and rattle whatever it uses for a brain, knocking its central head down in a daze once again, and giving the kunoichi another chance to carve out its eye.

But she doesn't. Instead, Ayane tucks her knife away, bows her head, and brings her hands together in a series of handsigns while chanting.
I was wondering if she would resort to this or not.
You're half expecting her to spit fire, so it's a bit of a surprise to see water rising out of the pool and flying through the air to Ayane's location, where they gather into three long streams that swirl around her at ever-increasing speed.

Sensing an opening in Ayane's sudden lack of mobility, one of Diababa's smaller heads lunges, only to be deflected away on contact with one of the spinning streams - which dissipates in the process, leaving only a few free drops of water to fall to the floor.

As the first head shakes off the shock of the impact, its partner joins the attack, to much the same result. For a moment, it looks like Ayane's ninja spell is about to fail before she can complete it, but then she finishes the chant and points sharply at Diababa's fallen central head. The last of her gathered water-streams shoots forward as a high-pressure jet, cutting much more deeply into Diababa's flesh than Ayane's small knife.

It's still not enough to finish the monster off, but its tongue is hanging almost limply from its jaw now, sap-like blood oozing down to obscure the eye's line of sight.

Diababa slams its central body down on one side of the platform and then sweeps to the far side, trying to strike Ayane, but another use of Body Flicker is enough for her to dodge the body-blow. She follows up by expending four more explosive kunai, one each to knock out Diababa's lesser heads, and then a double-dose to stun the central head one more time.

She goes all-in on this attack, performing the same spell and - thanks to the lack of interference - getting off all three slashing jets.

The massive mutant plant howls and recoils from the impacts, spraying dark sap, clear saliva, purple poison, and the thick water of the pool in all directions as it thrashes in pain. Yet even as it does so, you see Diababa's body losing color and withering with incredible speed, until the bloated trunk is little more than an oversized twig. Its movements slow, stiffen, and finally come to a stop, the glowing eye dangling low, barely attached.

And then it snaps off and falls to the damp dirt with a thud.

Diababa's body explodes into shadow.

The eye shatters.
And now for something completely different.
And with a whirl of shadow, shards, and surroundings, the Fifth Trial takes shape.

The area Ayane has been transported to now is a forest glade, grassy surface broken by a few carved stones of great size and antiquity, if the amount of moss clinging to the rocks and the weathering of the Hylian symbols carved into them is any indication.

Standing at ease on the grass a short distance away is a figure that could very well be human. He wears a close-fitting bodysuit of alternating colors: dark blue and black along the limbs; and white over the torso, where a red crest is prominently displayed. A high collar conceals the lower half of the newcomer's face, and is backed by a simple mask of cloth wrappings; more such material winds around the forearms from wrists to elbows, and also over the head. A few locks of short, straw-yellow hair are visible through the latter, half-hiding what little was left to see of the stranger's tanned features, and the blood red eyes therein.

You stare at the crest, a staring eye shedding what could be a tear or a drop of blood, feeling a shock of recognition and uneasy familiarity.

"Briar," you say slowly, "is that...?"

"...a Shiekah?" she concludes. "Yeah, looks like."

...that's... not what you were going to ask her.

Was it?

...

Shivering slightly, you push that haunting KNOWING aside before it can really take hold.

In the Ring, the... Shiekah... has bowed formally to Ayane, one martial artist to another.

WARRIOR OF THE SHADOWS: SHIEKAH

Ayane returns the gesture, and both fighters assume their opening stances.

---

"Hey, Batreaux!"

"Yes, Alex?" your tutor in DARKEST SORCERY replies. "How may I be of assistance to you on this GLORIOUS AFTERNOON?"

"You're an expert on Hyrulean demons, so maybe you can answer the young lady's question." You gesture to Cecilia, who is currently being soothed by her big sister, and repeat, "Why DO so many of them have eyes in such weird places?"

"Ah." Batreaux turns to Cecilia. "The answer is quite simple, my dear: great staring eyeballs are all the better to SEE you with!"

...

He did NOT just quote the Big Bad Wolf.
How do you know the Big Bad Wolf wasn't quoting him?
From the way Cecila starts snickering, "Th-thank you, G-Grandma," she was thinking the exact same thing.

And if there's a slightly manic note to her laughter, well, it's a step back from the verging-on-hysterical outburst from a moment earlier.

Batreaux smiles. "You are most welcome."

The ninja and the Sheikah square off, neither visibly moving.
...what's with the ocarina, Farore?
Faintly, as though from a distance, you hear two long, low notes blow.
...I don't get it.
As one, the combatants leap forward.

The Sheikah appears to be in his mid- to late-teens, giving him the longer reach. He's also quite fast, and against most opponents, the combination would be enough for his opening right-handed strike to have connected.

Ayane is no less quick, however, and deflects the blow high and over her shoulder, closing in to hammer the Sheikah in the gut - only for him to sidestep the blow and bring his extended right arm down on her, elbow first.

Just as the attack connects, Ayane vanishes with a burst of flower petals.

A moment later, a brace of kunai flies from the nearest trees, sending the Sheikah into a series of evasive backflips. He comes out of the second such flip with his hands full of needles, which he throws in the middle of his third flip, to the sound of several wooden thunks and the cessation of return fire.

Gained Thrown Weapons Training E (Plus)

Ayane flickers back into view behind the Sheikah, already unleashing a kick, but the Hyrulean shadow warrior crosses his arms to block the attack, grabs the smaller girl's leg, and then spins around and pulls her up, over his shoulder, and into the air.

Even as Ayane tucks and rolls about, trying to regain control, her foe pulls out some kind of baseball-sized orb at the end of a long, thin chain. He flings the sphere at her, and when it's gotten close, he gives the chain a yank.

BOOM!

Okay, it was actually some sort of bomb on a chain.

You'd be more upset about that trick if Ayane hadn't Substituted herself out of the blast radius, leaving an unlucky cluster of branches to get sucked into the explosion - what? - and shredded by the blast.

Gained Agility C (Plus) (Plus)
Gained Evasion B (Plus) (Plus)

You're fully expecting to see Ayane respond to that attack in kind, but when several seconds pass with no obvious retaliation, you think she must be running low on exploding kunai.

The Sheikah, meanwhile, reacts to the absence of a counterattack by stowing his chain... somewhere... and adopting a defensive stance, body half-turning as he looks first one way, and then the other.

Then a foot-wide fireball comes roaring out from behind the ancient stone monument, on a ballistic arc that carries it high overhead. The Sheikah looks up in surprise, and then immediately glances at the stones-

!

-only to stop, spin around, and pull a dagger from nowhere to catch the blade of Ayane's knife she reappears on the attack. Following that initial ringing parry, their blades hiss through the air several times-

!

-before the fireball, having reached and then passed the peak of its arc, comes plunging back down to earth right on top of the pair.

*POOF*
*POOF*

Both of whom vanish in - one in a burst of smoke, the other into a cloud of flowers - right before the fireball hits the ground and explodes, leaving a charred circle in the grass.

Ninjas, man.

The fight continues in this vein for another thirty seconds, and without being able to see the flows of magic and ki the two combatants are throwing around, you know you're missing at least half of the actual fight. What's left still makes for one heck of a spectacle, and gives you a better appreciation for why the Royal Family of Hyrule would have retained the services of the Sheikah Clan, even with their strong connections to the often-eerie, sometimes alarming Shadow Element.

When the conclusion comes, is appropriately swift and sneaky. The knives didn't go away when the fighters dodged the fireball, and as the clash of blades goes on, it becomes apparent that the Sheikah is the better of them with dagger in hand. He pens Ayane in, catches her blade with his own in a neat little disarm, and brings his weapon around towards her throat-

Gained Knife Training F (Plus) (Plus)

-and then goes still, as a second kunoichi prods him in the back with her knife.

Slowly, the Sheikah glances over his shoulder, and a silent question passes between red eyes.

Then Ayane smirks - in stereo, even - before her doppelganger blurs and fades out.

The Sheikah blinks, then snorts in amusement and lets his weapon fall to the grass, raising his hands in surrender as he turns around.

Ayane puts her knife away and backs up, giving herself and her opponent room to exchange salutes.

The Sheikah's hand suddenly shoots towards the ground, and there is a dazzling flash of light and smoke that leaves Ayane briefly stunned.

When she's blinked away the aftereffects of the flash, the Sheikah is gone.

Ayane huffs and visibly fights back a smile as the Ring shuffles environments, readying her Final Trial.

The traces of that smile freeze as Ayane finds herself standing on the baked clay tiles of a traditional sparring ring, which stands at the center of a much larger and more modern arena. Overhead are spotlights that shine as bright and hot as the sun, while all around are the seats, filled by a crowd numbering well into the thousands.

And just a few steps away from Ayane, mirroring her position in the right-hand side of the ring, is her opponent: a tall, strong boy who appears to be a few years older than his true age, with tanned skin, red hair, and golden-brown eyes.

DIVISON CHALLENGER: ALEXANDER HARRIS

"Are. You. Ready?" the Announcer bellows into his microphone.
Why did you include that guy?
Your past-self assumes a stance, and after a split-second's hesitation, so does Ayane.
What can I say? I like his style.
"BEEEEGIIIINNNN!"

Ayane gave you a pretty good fight back at the World Tournament, one she might even have won, if her opening attack had gone a little better. The only reason she didn't take you apart after that boot to the head was because she was recovering from contact with that electrical barrier spell you set up.

The same spell that your counterpart casts as his opening move now.

Ayane clearly remembers the fight this Trial is patterned after, because she doesn't try to kick the Division Challenger in the head. Instead, she uses the time he spends casting a spell to cast one of her own - specifically, that water-gathering defense-into-attack spell she used against Diababa.

"Western sorcery versus ninja magic! We're witnessing a real clash of cultures here today, ladies and gentlemen!"
It's... not Western, though?
It's a good choice, because when she lets fly with the scything jets of water a moment later-
You know that, and I know that, but would the real Announcer know that?
You can't help but notice that they seem shorter and thinner than when she cast this spell against the Twilit Parasite. Is she holding back, or is the comparative lack of water in the environment hindering the magic?

-Past Alex himself nimbly dodges the greater part of the attacks, but his crackling full-body shield takes two glancing hits, each of which results in an eruption of snarling static as contact with the flying water briefly shorts out the barrier.

"And that is why you should never use electrical appliances near water, folks!"

It doesn't quite bring the field DOWN, but Ayane follows up with the trick she used for the original fight, unwinding one of the bandages from around her hands and using it like a light whip to trigger the spell's defensive discharges, at no real risk to herself.

Past You scowls at that, and starts forming a Power Ball.

"Here comes an old favorite, seen here again for the first time!"

But where Ayane once tried to physically dodge your Power Ball, only to get caught in the electrical aura it generated as a result of leeching power from your defensive spell, this time she uses Body Flicker. She reappears directly behind Past Alex, whose weakened electrical shield didn't survive the creation of the Power Ball.

The first strike of the match once again goes to Ayane, with the second, third, and fourth following in rapid succession. Then Ayane has to break off her assault, ducking Past Alex's spinning backhand and rolling backwards to avoid being stepped on.

Past Alex gets off another spell while Ayane is recovering, renewing his electrical barrier.

Rather than throw another spell at it, Ayane starts throwing kunai - blunted ones, as attested by the lack of blood whenever one connects in spite of Past Alex's efforts at dodging.

"Just to be clear, weapons aren't usually allowed in the Under Tens Division, but the judges are making an exception today!"
Indeed we are.
Even if they don't do worse than bruise him and sap his barrier, the hits Past Alex takes from Ayane's throwing blades clearly annoy him, because he starts gathering his Power once again - except that this time, instead of expelling it as a Power Ball, he channels it through his body, unleashing Maximum Power with a flash.

"UNBELIEVEABLE!"

This is the first time you've been able to observe your personal super move without distraction, and you find yourself more than a little annoyed that you can't spend this time analyzing the move.

"Make another note, Other Me," you tell Shadow Alex.

"Maximum Power study session?"

"You know me so well."

As impressive as Past Alex's use of Maximum Power looks, especially with the violet-hued electricity crawling along it and randomly discharging into the floor, you know the move was much, much less poweful that early in the Tournament. It narrows the gap in speed between Past Alex and Ayane, but it doesn't close it entirely.

On the other hand, Past Alex is now strong enough to break the stone tiles, something he demonstrates a couple of times as Ayane blurs out of the way of his powered-up strikes. Even with a year's extra growth and training to help toughen her up, one solid hit could conceivably take Ayane down.

It's not just those shattering blows that she needs to avoid, either. The electrical charge Maximum Power absorbed is a real problem, particularly with the way it's lashing out at random. Ayane can't risk getting close to Past Alex, and so HAS to spend ki to stay ahead of him.

If she were limited to normal Body Flickers, he might well have worn her down; fortunately for your friend, she has the more efficient Staggered Flickers to rely on.

Even with those, however, Ayane can't get enough time to cast a spell, while Past Alex's speed boost is enough to let him dodge her kunai.

Finally, with a muttered, "Sorry about this, Alex," she breaks out the explosives, dropping a tag-wrapped kunai just before she flickers out of the corner where she was standing.

Past You blinks at the spark-spitting pieces of paper clinging to the blade and then leaps for safety-

*BOOM*

-only to get caught on the edge of the blast, lose control, and go tumbling head over heels across the ring, lightning barrier flashing all the way.
Whoops! Almost forgot!
"It bears mentioning at this point that a ring-out will NOT be counted as a loss!"
Whew.
Past Alex doesn't quite end up going out of the ring, but when he skids to a stop a second later, he's only a few feet from it.

Meanwhile, in the opposite corner of the ring, Ayane is once again calling on her ninja magic to gather water. The element comes to her call, but the forming streamers look even smaller this time, reinforcing your suspicion that she's drawing on what was available in the environment rather than creating it from nothing.

Past Alex gets his feet under him just in time to take the first of the ragged water-blasts across the back. He staggers forward and drops back to one knee from the impact, inadvertently dodging the bulk of the second shot, and then rolls to his right, away from the edge of the ring, avoiding the third strike entirely.

But the first two hits were enough to soak up the last of his electrical defense, and Ayane takes full advantage, blurring in to kick Past alex in the side of the head and send him rolling right back the way he came, with enough interest to push him over the edge and out of the ring.

Your own skull aches in sympathy.

"OOOOH, that had to hurt!"

Thanks to the physical reinforcement properties of Maximum Power and the simple hardness of your head, that devastating kick doesn't put Past Alex down, or even break the concentration he needs to hold the technique. It does stun him, though, and that's a bad way to be in the middle of a fight.

Rather than kick her opponent while he's down, Ayane tries to pin him. It's a slightly risky move, given how strong Past Alex is while under Maximum Power, but if she can get the right leverage on him-

!

-unfortunately, Past Alex recovers before that happens, not only breaking Ayane's hold but reversing the grapple, a simple wrestling move turned into a potentially bone-crushing one thanks to his currently superhuman abilities.

Then Ayane disappears mid-hold, Substitution allowing her to switch places with one of the ring's shattered tiles.

Past Alex crushes the fragments between his hands and rises to continue the fight.

To your surprise, he lets Maximum Power drop - and then performs a crude Body Flicker, crossing the distance to Ayane's position in the blink of an eye. Between the deactivation of the first technique and the use of a move that you hadn't yet learned, Ayane is caught sufficiently off-guard that she takes her first hit of the match. The second is right behind it, but the third fails to connect, as Ayane recovers from her surprise enough to flicker to a safe distance.

Past Alex must have been gathering his mana through that combo, because you see sparks of excess magical energy shooting around him as he adopts a stance, hands held low at his sides.

"Magic power," your lookalike proclaims grandiosely, "make your master GROW!"

And then Past Alex was a giant.

"Kaijuu alert!" the Announcer yells. "Quick, get the JSDF!"

Ayane looks up at your looming visage, and laughs.

Then she casts the very same spell.

It pains you to admit this, but there are more than a few people in the audience who find the look on Past Alex's face as someone else seemingly steals his trick of stealing tricks to be priceless.

Even when Ayane's fist wipes it off.

...perhaps especially then.

"KAIJUU BATTLE!" the Announcer screams. "What on Earth are they FEEDING these kids!?"

"Meat!" Sokka cries. "ALL the meat!"

The battle of the giants does nothing good for the battered ring, which loses more tiles with almost every step Ayane and Past Alex take as they range back and forth. And the damage doesn't stay confined to the ring for long, with Past Alex leveraging Ayane into an over-the-shoulder throw that launches her towards a section of the stands.

You notice recreated audience members fleeing, screaming, just before the giant girl comes crashing down.

Is it your imagination, or does that one look like Isshin?

"Hey!" the man in question protests.

Not your imagination, then.

In the time it takes Ayane to recover from being thrown, Past Alex re-engages Maximum Power - and then the whole arena starts to feel the pain.

"Please clear the area in an orderly fashion," the Announcer states levelly, as chaos reigns around him. "Please do not panic. We have everything under control."

In the end, the difference in scale avails Past Alex little. Past Ayane was a pretty close match for him in truth, and THIS Ayane was beating him when he was normal-sized and Maximum Powered; she soon starts beating him again, and if it takes a while, that's just because she's reluctant to break out whatever explosives she has left on something that looks like a friend.

Ayane is less conservative with her paralytic poisons. Respect for Tournament etiquette may have held her back earlier, but now that the rules have well and truly gone out the window...

When Past Alex goes down a minute or so later, it's with a few points of red marring his shirt, where the poison-smeared kunai pierced him.

"WINNER: AYANE!" the Announcer roars.

And that makes six.

As Ayane reappears in the Ring of Trials, returned to her normal size, you...

---

Head down to congratulate her.

Unlike the last four people to enter the Ring, Ayane does not have any immediate family or close friends to greet her as she emerges from her Final Trial. Not that you don't count as a friend, after all these months of writing back and forth and inviting her to your birthday, but let's be fair; the amount of time you've spent with Ayane in person doesn't add up to more than a couple of days, if even that much.

Compared to her friendship with Kasumi, your own association is more "friendly acquaintance" than "friend."

In any case, it strikes you as unfair for Ayane to be singled out from the rest of the competitors like that, and so, as her fight with Past Alex takes on the feel of an inevitable victory, you start heading down from your vantage point, so that you'll be in position to greet and congratulate her on her success without making it look like you're overtly favoring her.

As the Trial wraps up, you take in the sight of Ayane handily wrangling Past Alex and idly wonder what it was that led the Goddesses to pick that particular incarnation of you for her Last Trial. Because even taking into account the drain on her stamina and resources from the five previous fights, Past Alex doesn't quite strike you as a boss-tier challenge for a spellcasting kunoichi who'd fought him once before, AND had a year of training and personal growth since then.

Then again, you never used Maximum Power against Ayane at the Tournament - and in fact, you still haven't.

That might account for it.
Hey, now. Power isn't everything.
Or maybe the Goddesses had something else in mind...?
Bite your tongue.
Having reached the bottom of the stairs, you shake off your attempts to fathom the minds of a trio of deities and step out onto the sands, waving to the returned Ayane.

"Welcome back! And congratulations on being the first to complete all of your chosen Trials."

Ayane smiles and bows slightly. "Thank you for giving me the opportunity to take them."

"Yes, yes, well done," Elder Terok rumbles as he trudges over. "I particularly liked the use of explosives, even if they were a little understated."
He would.
...only a Goron.
Well, them and Link.
"I'm not old enough to use more powerful blasting tags yet," Ayane replies, her tone somewhere between apologetic and resigned.
Ha! Just for that, I say we give her some Bombs!
...okay, maybe NOT only a Goron.
That would just get her in trouble.
You find yourself wondering - and also worrying - that the Goddesses are going to gift Ayane a Bomb Bag or something with similar explosive potential.
Instead, how about this?
What they do give her isn't QUITE that bad. At least, not directly.
Oh, that's almost as good!
The small bag that materializes out of the golden light looks just like one of the pouches Ayane is already using to carry her supply of ammunition. Even to your senses, it registers as mundane, but when she unties the cover and flips it open to look inside, you catch a glimpse of a Triforce emblem stitched into the fabric, using thread of the same unremarkable shade of beige as the bag as a whole. It's the most subdued representation of the sacred icon you've ever seen.

Despite the lack of an obvious magical aura, you're pretty sure that's a Bag of Holding.
Well, a regular bag wouldn't be any kind of reward at all, now would it?
You have to wonder: how many kunai, explosive or otherwise, can Ayane get into one of those?
Lots!
From the way she's smirking, the answer is likely to be, "A lot."

Closing her gift, Ayane bows formally to Elder Terok, silently expressing her gratitude to his patrons.
You're welcome.
Is there anything special you'd like to say or do right before the next round of Trials?

---

As you accompany Ayane out of the arena, you meet Sokka coming the other way. He's got a spear in one hand, a bone club hanging from his belt on his left, and a boomerang fashioned from a bent piece of steel, punched through with a couple of holes, strapped to his right.

"Hey," he greets Ayane. "Nice fights."

"Thank you," she answers, with the politeness of a person who knows someone more as a friend of a friend than anything else. "Good luck with your own Trials."

"Thanks." Sokka nods towards the Triforce symbol at the center of the Ring. "After seeing some of the critters in there, I think I'm going to need it."

He's not underestimating the Ring, then. That's a good sign.

Sokka goes for six Trials, the first of which sees him fighting a riderless Bullbo.

"BAAAACOOOONNNN!"

That fight costs Sokka his spear, which wasn't really meant to be used against something with quite as much mass and speed as a Bullbo. It holds out long enough for him to finish the porcine monster.

Next up is a Chilfos, an elemental entity that resembles a Stalfos made entirely of ice, and which conjures frozen spears to wield in battle. This Trial proves a more serious challenge than the first, as the Chilfos is quite quick on the draw - so to speak - and at least as skilled with its weapon as the young Water Tribesman is with any of his. He takes a shot at it with his boomerang, but only chips a bit of the creature's chest, while nearly getting impaled by a flying icicle-spear in exchange.

Once Sokka closes in, his club proves much more effective, smashing through his opponent's spear with one good strike - though the Chilfos then dual-wields the remaining halves against him - and doing comparable damage to the ice-warrior itself.

Gained Club Training E (Plus) (Plus)
Gained Sunder E (Plus)

After the Chilfos, Sokka ends up in a moonlit forest, doing battle with a Wolfos of the non-arctic variety. He gets disarmed partway through the match - not literally, thankfully - and spends a few frantic moments wrestling with the werewolf-like monster, struggling to keep its claws at bay and its fangs from his throat. You see Sokka's skin flush and ripple with more than just physical exertion during that grapple, as he calls on more of his inhuman strength than he was using before to better-match the Wolfos's own power; despite that, he doesn't transform all the way or abandon any of his technique, which turns out to be the crucial point, as he flips the slavering beast over his head.

Gained Grappling C (Plus)

While the Wolfos is busy yelping in surprise and recovering from its fall, Sokka scrambles to get his club back, and subsequently breaks it while breaking his enemy's skull.

"Ah, man..."

Taking up the boomerang and drawing the bone knife that was sheathed at his back, Sokka readies himself for his Fourth Trial - which turns out to be in the same scrubby near-desert area that Ayane faced for her First Trial.

Sokka takes one look at the Goriya, and raises his boomerang into the air. "BOOMERANG BROTHER! THIS IS BEST TRIAL!"
I knew he'd say that!
Katara covers her face in embarrassment and mumbles, "One of us is adopted, right, Dad?"

Hakoda just laughs.

You aren't sure how to take it when the Goriya raises the largest of its boomerang and throws back its head, howling in response to Sokka's salute.

As he readies himself to fight, Sokka sighs and shakes his head. "I regret only that I've got to fight someone with such good taste in weapons."
Well, actually...
The Goriya chuffs in clear amusement, and points to the sand dunes.
...take a look at THIS!
Sokka cautiously glances that way, and then does a double-take as a variety of targets rise from the sand, ranging from paper bullseyes and the waving antennae of some desert insect to Peahats that gradually float higher into the sky. Somewhere overhead, a falcon cries out.
What do you think of that, Boomerang Boy?
Sokka bows his head over his boomerang, muttering, "...seriously, best Trial." Then he straightens up and points the weapon at the Goriya, crying, "YOU'RE ON!"

The next few minutes see a fierce competition between Sokka and the Goriya, as boomerangs fly every which way, striking down target after target in a test of speed, accuracy, and planning. Each hit results in a flash of either green or yellow light, indicating a perfect hit or a grazing one.

Sokka has only the one boomerang to the Goriya's multitude, but his weapon is steel, where the monster must make do with a collection of wood and bone. This lets it cut or punch through targets that would stop a lighter, less well-aimed boomerang cold.

You also suspect that Sokka was either taught how to use ki to enhance his throws, or stumbled into the trick unknowingly, because the odds of a boomerang returning to its thrower after hitting a target - even a sharp metal boomerang cutting through a light paper target - are miniscule at best. To say nothing of how he bounces the thing between multiple targets.

The Goriya stares in shock when it sees some of those tricks, and its own throws take on a hint of desperation, making them less accurate - which results in the first target flashing red, for a clear miss.

In the end, Sokka has enough of a lead that the "bonus points" he gets for downing the bird that swoops over the field are more about driving his victory home than making it a thing in the first place.

The defeated Goriya falls to its paws and knees, surrounded by a cloud of despair.

For his Fifth Trial, Sokka faces another boomerang-wielder, a white-furred primate identified as "Ook" who wears some kind of helmet, has a... distinctively red backside, and zero compunctions about taunting Sokka by waggling it at him and slapping it. The ape - or perhaps a tailless monkey? - fights from atop a ring of carved wooden pillars, in a chamber where vines grow on almost every surface. Some of the plants are not just vines, but a variety of Baba, which Ook cuts loose to chase Sokka around as an accompaniment to his boomerang tosses.

Sokka has no real trouble dodging Ook's boomerang, and taking care of the snapping, serpentine Babas is only truly an issue because they tend to drop from the ceiling in threes. Dealing with Ook is more problematic, as he's too fight for Sokka to reach normally and nimble enough to dodge the boy's boomerang or knife, when he tries throwing that. When Sokka attempts to scramble up one of the pillars, Ook leaps around the ring and starts swiping at him, wielding his large boomerang like a club; it's enough of a threat that Sokka has to let go.

As he does so, however, the pillar rocks, putting Ook off-balance. Sokka immediately throws himself against the base of the unstable column, giving it a hard push that sends Ook screaming to the floor.

Sokka follows that up by kicking the ape's shiny red butt.

Ook leaps up with a screech, clutching his abused backside with one hand while the other swings his boomerang around wildly.

The fight doesn't take too much longer from there. Ook releases more Baba Serpents from their anchoring roots on the ceiling, and tries to leap away from a pillar before Sokka can ram it, but the Water Tribe boy uses carefully-timed throws of his boomerang and knife to either fence the monkey in before he can jump aside, or just smack him one while he's in mid-air.

Gained Knife Training F (Plus) (Plus) (Plus)

A few more hits cause Ook's "helmet" to drop off, revealing it to be some kind of overgrown insect. When the monkey staggers upright after that, he takes one look at the big bug - which landed on its back, legs waving helplessly at the air - and starts clubbing it with his boomerang, shrieking.

"I knew nobody who used a boomerang could be all bad!" Sokka proclaims.

"Ooo-ooo-ook!" Ook protests, pointing his weapon at the boy.

"...sorry about the butt-kicking," Sokka adds.

"...ook."

At last, Sokka faces his Final Trial, which takes place in a dark, misty chamber that is most likely somewhere underground. Another great staring eye opens up amidst the shadows of the ceiling-

"Not the eyes again," Cecilia moans.

-and when its owner crawls into the light, you see another Gohma - not nearly so large as the mother of the swarm you incinerated in your Fourth Trial, but bigger than any of the spawn that made up the swarm in question.

Koron hisses at the sight of the monster, and makes a gesture to ward off evil as it drops to the floor, screeching.

This battle is legitimately Sokka's hardest fight. He didn't get the opportunity to see you fight the other Gohma hand-to-hand, so while he does take the general cue demonstrated by other competitors and goes for the eye, he's caught decidedly off-guard when the monster snaps its eyelid shut, and his bone knife breaks against the exoskeleton.

Gohma reopens its eye and glares down at Sokka.

Sokka affects a wide smile and chuckles weakly. "...hi."

Gohma growls.

"SURPRISE BOOMERANG STAB!"

And then the monster shrieks as Sokka alters his grip his boomerang - fingers through the holes and blunt back against his palm, you see - and suits actions to words.

Of course, the Gohma doesn't go down that easily, snapping its eyelid shut and skittering for the wall. Though Sokka attacks it, even his sharp steel boomerang can't pierce the monster's shell, and his attempts to wrestle it down end with him getting kicked several feet away.

Once it's on the ceiling, Gohma starts laying eggs, which it throws at Sokka seemingly without care for the fate of its offspring. Vision not really impaired by the limited level of light, the Water Tribe boy is able to dodge these attacks without injury, but is once again taken by surprise when the Gohma eggs not only don't shatter into so much broken shell and oozing embryonic fluids on impact with the floor, but properly hatch in a matter of seconds, releasing larval Gohma the size of housecats. The lesser monsters immediately scuttle towards their first meal, and while Sokka is dealing with them - their much softer shells proving vulnerable to his blows - the parent moves directly above him.

And then it lets go of the ceiling.

Sokka manages not to get stabbed by the beast's claws, but he's still smashed to the ground under its not-inconsiderable weight. If he was a human boy, that might have taken him out of the fight right there, but since he's not human - or at least not entirely - Sokka just transforms fully into his animalistic form, wrenches himself up off the ground, and sends the Gohma reeling to one side with a surprised shriek.

This time, he not only stabs its eye with his boomerang, but also with the thickened nails of his free hand.

"Yeah!" Koron cries. "Show the Treekiller who's boss!"

Gohma snaps its eye shut and makes for the wall again, but when Sokka goes to wrestle it this time, his hybrid form's increased strength is enough to keep the monster on the ground. This results in a furious scrabble between young orca-boy and demonic spider-monster, kicking and snarling and shrieking as they tumble all over the floor.

Then, by wedging his boomerang into the joint of one of the Gohma's legs, getting himself under the part of the limb below the joint, and leveraging mass and strength alike against it, Sokka snaps one of Gohma's legs in half.

Then he picks up the broken-off end and starts wailing on its previous owner with it. Mostly, he uses it like a club, but at one point, you see him thrusting the clawed end forward like a spear.

It's noisy, it's messy, and Sokka takes more hits than he needs to in the process - a few of which he probably wouldn't have been able to avoid even with proper weapons - but by focusing on the eye, he brings the Gohma down.

When he's returned to the arena a moment later, Sokka is back in his human form, bruises healed, clothes unscratched, and even his broken weapons repaired - or may they were never broken in the first place? Hakoda carries Katara down to congratulate her brother, and Elder Tiriaq tags along, although after giving the boy a quick nod, he turns to speak with Elder Terok about something.

That hushed conversation shortly expands to include Sokka, who blinks in astonishment at whatever he's told, then cries out, "Yes! Absolutely!" and holds out his boomerang.

When the golden energy gathers in response to Terok's invocation this time, nothing appears from it; instead, the Goron priest guides the power into Sokka's weapon, while the Water Tribe shaman chants over it, working a magic of his own.

The boomerang shines brightly for a moment, almost vanishing into the light of the unleashed magic, and then dims once more, a final flash of light running along its edge.

Sokka raises his weapon, considering its balance.

Terok lowers the butt of his staff to the arena floor, causing the sand to swirl together in several places and then shoot upright, like spears of silicon - five of them in all, each shoulder high to Hakoda but no more than a couple of inches across at the base, and thinner than that at the tip.

With some encouragement, Sokka assumes a stance and lets his weapon fly straight at the nearest sand-spike.

The Boomerang cuts through the top of the spear, sand flying in all directions, then keeps going until it reaches the end of its natural arc, at which point it swoops back to Sokka's waiting hand.

The boy stares at it for a moment, then grins hugely and lets the Boomerang fly again, this time in an arc that brings it spinning edge-on to one of the four remaining spikes.

Once, twice, and thrice, sand bursts as the spinning length of metal cuts or smashes through them. It's not a perfect flight: the Boomerang is thrown slightly off-course by each impact, until the third just barely avoids being a miss; the fourth spoke doesn't get hit at all; and rather than return to its master, the Boomerang goes turning end-over-end on a terminal course into the sandy floor.

Despite this, Sokka's grin doesn't diminish in the slightest.

---

Although the sight of the Goron priest and the Water Tribe shaman imbuing divine and spiritual power into Sokka's boomerang has you sorely tempted to go all-in with your scanning abilities, your sense of courtesy holds you back.

You've been warned in the past that actively probing another practitioner without their permission is considered rude, and resolved to avoid giving offense in that regard where you can. Even more than that, however, now that you've got most of a year's worth of crafting magical items under your belt, you're well aware of how delicate a process it can be. The slightest interruption can introduce errors that weaken the end product, or undo hours, even days' worth of work in a single moment.

You're not going to be the one who screws up one of your friends' rewards.

...but you're also not going to miss out on an opportunity to learn SOMETHING about how priests and shamans approach the practice of creating magic items, either.

Dialling your exotic visual senses up to the limits of their passive operation, you watch as motes of golden divinity and wisps of silvery spirit-stuff are woven into the metaphysical fabric of Sokka's weapon.

Seeing as how she's already in the arena, you ask Katara if she'd like to attempt the Trials next.

After a moment of consideration, she agrees to give them a go, asking for six Trials.

Sokka immediately goes into Protective Big Brother Mode, questioning Katara if she's sure about her choice, cautioning her that the monsters are not as easy to take down as they might look, and suggesting that three Trials might be more her speed.

Really, this just encourages Katara to go with her original choice.

As you head back up to your chosen vantage point, though, you do have to wonder how Katara's imperfect footwork is going to affect the Trials. She's been doing much better now than she was at Kahlua's birthday, most of which she spent sitting down due to her issues with maintaining actual feet, but you have noticed a few moments of unsteadiness and a preference for not staying on her feet when she doesn't have to.

The Goddesses appear to have taken Katara's discomfort into account, because her First Trial takes place at a beach, with the Water Tribe girl standing on a rock a short distance off shore. Her opponent for this round is a bright red Octorok slightly larger than she is - so about normal for one of the stone-spitting amphibious cephalopods.

Katara immediately slips into the water, and subsequently demonstrates why it's a terrible, terrible idea to try and fight even a novice Waterbender anywhere near a large body of water.

Her next fight takes place in a river, against one of the monstrous River Zoras. The hostile fish-man is just as much at home in the water as Katara, and his hard scales and tolerance for pressure make her Waterbending attacks somewhat less effective against him. In exchange, however, Katara is fast enough to keep a safe distance from the larger aquatic being's claws and fangs, and when he tries to spit at her, she "catches" the semi-liquid projectile in mid-flight, whirls it through a wide orbit around herself, and then fires it right back where it came from.

In her Third Trial, Katara faces a Chilfos. Forewarned by her brother's encounter with this type of monster, she immediately bends a wall of ice to defend herself from its spears, then tries to send one of the frozen projectiles back at its creator. The jagged javelin proves more difficult for Katara to work with than the Zora's spittle, however - something you personally attribute to the fact that the ice was conjured on the spot, rather than formed from pre-existing water - first slamming into the ground, then twisting into weird shapes, and finally blowing apart into shards.

Even though her ice wall was in the way, that explosion still rocks Katara backwards in shock. Some sort of feedback through her Waterbending?

Whatever the case, she doesn't try that again. Nor does she attempt to Waterbend the Chilfos itself. Instead, she draws upon the ice-covered chamber around her to make projectiles of her own, and starts firing those at the Chilfos. The monster's body isn't especially flexible, which limits its ability to dodge, and while it swings its spear to parry as many attacks as possible, some get through.

The hardness of the Chilfos's frozen form proves to be another issue, forcing Katara to put more mass and force into each of her attacks. She does eventually shatter the Chilfos, but is left breathing hard for a few moments in the aftermath, clouds of cooling breath betraying the effort it took.

Katara's next Trial is set in a forest, with no visible body of water - liquid or otherwise - in sight. Her enemy is a Moblin, and not one of the huge variety that Akua faced in her First Trial; just an ordinary, man-sized, bulldog-faced forest goblin, wielding a single spear.

It's telling, how much trouble such an opponent gives the young Waterbender, now that she doesn't have a ready source of water to draw upon. She's still carrying a waterbag, the contents of which she puts to good use, but there's a marked difference in the quality of her fighting like this.

Katara's Fifth Trial drops her in the desert, where she is attacked by a Geldarm - a centipede-like monster three times her height, which bursts from its resting place beneath the sands like a pillar of chitinous plates and twitching legs, sand and small stones flying in all directions. Bulbous eyes regard the Waterbender from on high for a moment before the body whips down and forward, venom-dripping mandibles snapping eagerly.

The lack of water has now become a serious hindrance, especially given the size of the monster. Katara's small hand-guided slashing waves splash ineffectively against the Geldarm's armored body, and while her flung icicles at least prove able to rock the relatively-spindly bug-beast back, sending it into a brief, defensive curl, they don't penetrate. Katara tries shooting at the less-armored head, but the amount of water she needs to commit to actually HURT the thing exhausts her waterskin after just two strikes, and she doesn't seem to yet be skilled enough to recover a useful amount of expended water after her attacks.

She did manage to crack the monster's cranial exoskeleton with those large icicles, however, and so when Katara falls back on some decidedly awkward-looking hand-to-hand, her natural strength as a member of the Southern Water Tribe is enough to actually hurt the Geldarm.

The issue here is that the Geldarm is too tall for Katara to reach, let alone strike, save when it's trying to bite her, and though she does try to hit its body hard enough to make it curl up defensively again, she just can't seem to muster the striking power to do the job - not in her human form, at least. Using her birth-form is out, thanks to the way it turns her feet to flippers, and this leaves the girl trying to reach past the monster's mandibles and hit it between its multifaceted eyes before it can take a chunk out of her in exchange.

She is... less than successful at that, and ends up having the dubious distinction of being the first of the challengers to actually be eliminated by one of the monsters.

This is reflected in Katara's gift, which is a small steel knife - a hint, perhaps, that she needs to look into a means of self-defense OTHER than Waterbending.

The way she looks at her unmarked arm before reaching out with it to take the knife suggests that Katara is seriously considering that suggestion.

Sokka and Hakoda's expressions likewise say that THEY'RE thinking about it as well.

Katara's defeat visibly takes some of the eagerness out of various members of the crowd, meaning that when Tatsuki steps forward to take her turn, there's no real resistance from anybody.

The half-oni girl blows through her first Trial, defeating a regular Moblin by wrestling its spear away and then smacking it with the shaft until it gives up. Her second fight puts her up against a single Lizalfos, which manages to match her in wrestling for a short time before Tatsuki pulls off the spiky, mace-like implement it wore on the end of its tail, and then clubbing it senseless with that.

In her Third Trial, Tatsuki is pitted against a Gibdo. Having seen and heard what the mummified monster can do if its protective wrappings are burnt away, Tatsuki avoids the "convenient" torches lining the walls, and tries to take the thing apart with her bare hands.

Then the Gibdo catches her in its paralyzing gaze ANYWAY, and gets Tatsuki into a crushing bear hug while she's still shaking from the effect.

She doesn't appreciate that in the least, and when she recovers, her oni blood has surged up in a temper, letting her force the Gibdo's arms back with such force as to make them creak and the monster groan, and making her fingernails sharp enough that when she pulls them back, great swathes of tattered old cloth are torn free of the dessicated flesh beneath and dragged along.

Then she claws out its eyes, or whatever's left of them.

For her Fourth Trial, Tatsuki ends up in another arena, facing a young Goron of about her height - but easily three times her mass - who introduces himself as Dengoro, explains that he's in training to be a great sumo champion, and cheerfully challenges her to a match.

"But she's too tiny to be a sumo!" Ichigo exclaims.

Tiny or not, Tatsuki accepts the challenge with a fanged grin - and promptly gets flung out of the ring, her inherited oni strength easily matched by that of a Goron, and her size disadvantage coming through in full.

Despite that "loss," the Trial seems to be set not to end as long as Tatsuki keeps picking herself up - which she does. She takes the Goron completely seriously from the second bout, where she makes a visible effort to keep her feet on the ground. The split in her focus is what gets her tossed the second time, and when she doubles down on her efforts in the third bout, she manages to match young Dengoro for almost thirty seconds before he successfully leverages his size once more. That time, however, it's only enough to push Tatsuki out of the ring, rather than sending her flying.

In their fourth bout, Tatsuki gets as good a hold on her heavyset rock-skinned opponent as she can while he's pushing her back, and with a roar of effort, lifts him over her head-

"That's not sumo, Tatsuki!"

-while rolling backwards, using the momentum to flip Dengoro right out of the ring.

He laughs all the way.

This continues for nine rounds, with Tatsuki eking out a couple more wins using tactics that might be considered less-than-regulation. In the end, Dengoro still takes the overall match, six ring-outs to three.

This is apparently good enough to count as win for the Trial.

"Say WHAT!?" Tatsuki exclaims, evidently a little miffed about being given a handicap.
I can respect that.
"We Gorons have so many advantages when it comes to wrestling that if a Hylian can take us even one round out of nine, without using magic or enchanted items, it's considered the Hylian's win," Dengoro explains, still with that cheerful smile. "If he's got something like strength-boosting gauntlets or weight-increasing boots, he's got to win one round out of every three, and if he's got both, it's considered an even match."

"I'm not a Hylian," Tatsuki points out.

"No," Dengoro agrees, "but you're about the size of one, and you're not too far off from a Goron's strength. That seems like good grounds for using the one-in-three rule, and you did it!"

You spare a moment to reflect that it's a fortunate thing the Amulet of Magic Fangs you gave to Tatsuki makes a distinction between wrestling moves and strikes, and only augments the latter.

Tatsuki grudgingly accepts the "victory," and proceeds to her Fifth Trial, which drops her about halfway up some sort of long, broad ramp made of stone. The edges of the incline are lined with odd, wavy lengths of stone, some of which would be three times Tatsuki's height if they weren't all bent up. Others are much shorter, and the lot are pressed close enough together that it would take a serious effort for someone to fall over the side - which is fortunate, because the distinctive orange glow of hot lava fills the air.

Of somewhat more pressing urgency than that is the presence of the huge boulder balanced precariously at the top of the ramp. The thing is twenty feet across if it's an inch, and even as Tatsuki's eyes widen at the sight of it, the rock starts to roll towards her.

Fortunately, there's enough room for Tatsuki to dodge to one side, curl into a ball at the base of two of those wavy stone protrusions, and not get crushed as the huge rock goes thundering past. When it hits the bottom of the ramp moments later, the boulder almost seems to explode, throwing out a cloud of dust and gravel; as that clears, the rock is revealed to still be somewhat intact, albeit covered by dozens of fractures large enough that Tatsuki could slip her hand inside.

At least until the interior of the "boulder" glows bright orange-yellow, and those gaps fill with a molten fluid, which quickly overruns them and spills out onto the base of the ramp, forming half a dozen spindly legs and three-toed feet that scrabble around for support. Once they find their footing, the legs lever the glowing body upright, and it splits in half, revealing a molten maw whose volcanic howl distorts the air around it with heat and pressure.

PYROCLASTIC FIEND: SCALDERA

There is NO way Tatsuki can wrestle THIS monster, and she doesn't even try, leaping to her feet and rushing for the end of the ramp, hoping for who-knows-what. The monster, Scaldera, pursues her, its long limbs rapidly closing the distance. As it gets closer, the beast's molten exterior cools and hardens; glancing over her shoulder, Tatsuki spots this, licks her lips nervously, and then stops running, turns around, and sets her feet.

When Scaldera gets close enough, the small girl jumps up and punches it in the lower jaw as hard as she can.

This is enough to knock the monster off its searing hot feet and send it rolling back down to the bottom of the ramp, but it doesn't appear to inflict any serious injury; after a moment of dazed impact, Scaldera simply picks itself back up, howls furiously, and bursts into flame anew as it takes up the chase once again.

Shaking her hand out after that punch, Tatsuki resumes her flight to the peak of the ramp, only to stumble to stop as she discovers that the path ends in a board platform, with no other obvious way down.

There's also half a dozen Bomb Flowers growing in two neat rows to either side.

After seeing Kahlua fight King Dodongo earlier, Tatsuki needs no further hint. She takes hold of the nearest of the explosive plants, waits for Scaldera to get close, and when it shrieks at it, she tears the Bomb loose from its roots and flings it down the beast's throat.

Scaldera almost seems to chew on the unstable seed for a moment, before its blazing hot interior ignites the Bomb, which once again sends the monster careening back down to the bottom of the ramp. THIS time, it's visibly damaged, with another huge, singular eye staring out in a daze amid the cracked shell of stone.

Of course, defeating a boss monster isn't quite that easy, and it costs Tatsuki a few more Bombs, further bruised knuckles, and a lot of sweat before she works out how to kill Scaldera. The eye is the obvious weak-point, but she can't jump high enough to hit it, meaning that Scaldera has to be either blasted or bludgeoned off its feet before she can go on the offensive. Of course, stunning the monster just causes its mostly-spherical body to tumble back down the ramp, and as some false starts show, if Tatsuki's any further away than about half the length of the ramp from Scaldera when it finally comes to a stop, it'll recover by the time she gets in striking range.

Further complicating the matter is that the Bombs will go off before Tatsuki can get to the bottom of the ramp, unless she runs very fast and throws them VERY hard; even then, there's still the issue of the limited supply to worry about. Each Bomb Flower only has so many dangerous seeds clustered above its roots.

Scaldera's tendency to cough up a barrage of ten-foot-wide fireballs if it's left alone too long does not exactly help.

Still, once Tatsuki has seen enough of Scaldera's pattern to work out a plan of attack, it goes reasonably well. She only blows herself up once and wastes three more Bombs while getting the timing of their delivery down, and Scaldera's eye is both softer and more flexible than its glassy stare might suggest, so she doesn't do any damage to her hand by punching it.

It IS a shame about her hair and clothes getting set on fire when the first round of quasi-homing fireballs show up, but Tatsuki knows how to Stop, Drop, and Roll, and her oni blood appears to give her enough resistance to heat and flame that her skin is just reddened by the brief, burning contact, instead of properly cooked.

And the damage will be repaired at the end of the Trials anyway, so it's fine. Right?

Finally, Scaldera goes up in a screaming burst of magic, allowing Tatsuki to advance to her Final Trial.

Which starts with that tall, dark mirror that Navi either stole from the Goddesses for her Silent Realm, or that they appropriated from her for these Trials.

...it occurs to you that, despite this being the third time you've seen this particular mirror, you don't know if it has a proper name or not.

It seems like it should, if only to distinguish it from the Mirror of Shadows.

---

You have two out of three ordained priests that have been teaching you for months standing right there. If this Mirror really is a creation of the Goddesses, they ought to be able to tell you something about it - and if it's not, they can probably tell you that as well. So why NOT ask them about it?

"I have no idea," Koron replies.

"Yeah, I've got nothing, either," Vert admits.

...okay, that's why.

Lanora shakes her head at her Kokiri counterpart, and then tells you that, based on what it looks like and what it does, this particular enchanted glass is probably the Mirror of Darkness. As you've seen, it has the same ability to create "dark" copies of a person who looks into it as the Mirror of Shadows does, with the differences in their respective creations arising from the fact that each Mirror draws upon its respective elemental namesake. Where copies produced from Shadow tend to embody the repressed aspects of your nature, Dark copies usually lack an aspect of your nature altogether.

Xander Harris, for example, is you without Ganondorf's soul, while Mirror Ganondorf was what you'd have been if "Alex Harris" never formed as a separate identity from the Demon King. As for Evil Alex, Lanora figures he was most likely to have been you without a conscience.

...

That's both informative, and concerning.

What is Tatsuki going to see in the Mirror of Darkness? Herself as a full human, or conversely, as a full oni? Herself as she is, except evil? Something else entirely?

The Mirror of Darkness shines brightly as Tatsuki looks upon her reflection, and then that reflection steps forth from the glass.
...huh. Was not expecting that.
When the lightshow ends, Mirror Tatsuki turns out to still have the features of a half-oni - sharper fingernails and teeth, the small bumps of growing horns, and the overall air of wildness - and likewise lacks the telltale signs of obvious evil - glowing red eyes, sadistic leering, and so on. She's wearing her hair much longer, however, and has exchanged Tatsuki's currently burnt and tattered tomboyish style of clothes for a dress.

It's a perfectly nice dress. Short sleeves that stop above the elbow, gathered about the waist, and with a skirt that comes down to mid-calf, all of it in pale blue. At a glance, it's not the level of quality enjoyed by the Shuzen girls, but Cordelia wouldn't turn up her nose at something similar, if in different colors for her.

Tatsuki, on the other hand, looks mildly put out by it.

"Oh, crap," Ichigo breathes.

"Hell, yes," Akkiko chortles.

"Language," Masaki chides them both.

"Why are you wearing a dress?" she asks bluntly.

"Why aren't you?" Mirror Tatsuki replies.

"I don't like dresses."

"That's strange; I like them just fine."

Tatsuki shakes her head. "If I needed proof you were evil-"
That's going a bit far, don't you think?
"What is your problem?" the reflection snaps. "What's so bad about wearing a dress?"

"What isn't?" Tatsuki retorts. "They get caught on stuff, they blow all over the place, and you can't move right in one when you're in a fight!"
Hear, hear! More Power to this girl.
"Kahlua does just fine."

"I'm not Kahlua."

"Yeah, that much was obvious."

Tatsuki blinks. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that Kahlua is a pretty girl who can BE a pretty girl, and still kick the butt of any boy she needs to... well, except for Alex," Mirror Tatsuki adds, before waving that off. "YOU, on the other hand, are so focused on beating the guys, it's like you've completely forgotten how to be a girl at all - or maybe you're just too scared to try."

Ichigo buries his head in his hands with the groan of a condemned soul.

Expression flat, Tatsuki raises a fist. "I'm going to punch you now."
Yeah, I'd punch Evil Me too about now.
The reflection smirks, raising her arms in a guard and making a mocking, come-hither gesture. "Bring it on, butch."

Violence ensues, and dress or no, long hair or no, Mirror Tatsuki gives as good as she gets.

Gained Hand-to-Hand B (Plus) (Plus)
See, ladies? You CAN fight in a dress, and you DON'T have to use magic to do it.
Now wearing a frown instead of an amused grin, Akkiko turns to Ichigo. "I take it from your moaning you recognized some of that?"
Hush, Farore. / Quiet, you.
"Some of the kids at school have been saying stuff like that behind Tatsuki's back," Ichigo admits.

"I see."

There is a note of grim speculation in the woman's voice, and Masaki appears to recognize it.

"No terrorizing small children or punching out their parents, Akkiko."

"I make no promises."

Eventually, and in no small part by making full and ruthless use of the extra handholds her Mirror-self's sense of style provided, Tatsuki wins the fight.

"You were saying?" she asks, while sitting on her twin's back and pulling on her hair.

"Alright, alright, I give," Mirror Tatsuki hisses. "Now let go and get off of me, already. You're heavy."

"No heavier than you."

"Yes, but unlike you, I'm graceful."
But not any wiser, it would seem.
"Do you wanna go again!?"
Fight! Fight! Fight!
Despite some... mishaps, the two Tatsukis separate without further mayhem.

Though before she steps back into the Mirror of Darkness, Dress-Tatsuki glances back at her counterpart and says, "Think about what I said, alright? And maybe talk to Kahlua or Big Sis about it. Or, ugh, Mom."
Alright, what do we give her?
"Oi!" Akkiko protests. "What's wrong with talking to me?"
And don't say a dress, because I'll punch you in her stead.
For the first time, Tatsuki reacts as if genuinely recognizing her kinship with her clone. "She's annoying on your end too, huh?"
Heh. Well, if that's out... she lives in a town with a ghost problem, right?
"Hey!"
Yes...
"Absolutely impossible."
So what do you think about giving her a way to see them coming?
"Oooh, when I get my hands on you, girly..."
You don't mean like the Lens of Truth?!
It is perhaps fortunate for Tatsuki that the Kurosakis accompany Akkiko down to the arena to greet her.
Nah, nothing so grand. Just... a spook-specific warning system.
...or it could just be putting Akkiko's maternal vengeance off until later, when there are no witnesses around.
That could work. But which one has she earned? Some of them are bit too powerful to hand out...
Hard to say, really.
I have a good one in mind. It just needs a little adjustment...
For her six consecutive wins in the Ring of Trials, Tatsuki receives what looks like a brand new, or at least better-maintained version of the old-fashioned lantern the Poe that Ayane fought was carrying around, complete with pale green "flame." It's also much smaller, about the size of something you'd put on a keychain rather than over a foot tall and a third that in width.
Get it? A 'little' adjustment?
Tatsuki seems bewildered by her reward, until Elder Terok steps in to explain what it does. THEN she looks very grateful indeed, as does her mother.

As happened with Katara, since Ichigo is down in the Ring already, everyone else down there except his mother and the old Goron starts asking him if he's going to take a run at the Trials himself.

"Someone needs to uphold the family honor!"

For a value of "asking" that includes Isshin being Isshin-

"You're not going to let my girl completely show you up, are you?"

-Akkiko being Akkiko-

"Go, Ichi-nii-san!"

"You can do it!"

-and two adorably supportive, slightly fight-happy little sisters.

Faced with THAT kind of pressure, Ichigo folds like a wet noodle, and even agrees to face six Trials.

You wonder if that's really such a great idea. Ridiculously potent and heavily-bound soul aside, Ichigo is basically a bog-standard human boy of nine, and he'd be going into the Trials barehanded. Yes, he's got half a decade of karate lessons under his belt, but he's not as good as Tatsuki, even leaving aside the advantages that come with her mixed heritage. He's not even wearing the Gi of Resistance right now!

Maybe you should offer him a weapon or something, before he goes up against whichever of Hyrule's ugliest the Goddesses decide to throw at him?

---

You decide to forego the offer of weaponry. That would only make the Trials harder, with little real benefit to Ichigo, who - to the best of your knowledge - has never actually held a weapon before.

Yes, you could use the Spell to Bestow Weapon Proficiency to give him the basic skills required to not stab himself in the foot or anything similarly self-defeating, but there's more to armed combat than technique alone. There's strength, endurance, and reflexes built up by training and honed on the battlefield. There's knowing WHEN to use specific moves, and when not to. Most of all, there's the confidence in one's self and one's weapon that adds a force to your blows beyond what mere muscle and bone can provide.

But the Gi of Protection is something that requires no special training or experience to bring out its potential. Ichigo can use it simply by wearing it, and the benefits, minor as they are, are extremely unlikely to have the Goddesses ratcheting up the challenge level of the boy's Trials to an unmanageable degree.

The extra layer of protection would also likely put a few minds at ease - or at least, more at ease than they would be with Ichigo taking on a string of monsters with no greater defense than his t-shirt and shorts.

So you call down to the Kurosakis, and suggest that Ichigo go and get his Gi before he dives into the Trials.

The orange-haired boy blinks, caught off-guard by the suggestion, and then says, "I didn't even think of that, but it's a good idea. Back in a few!"

As their big brother leaves the arena at a jog, Karin glances sidelong at the glowing Triforce emblem, while Yuzu turns to their parents.

"Can we-"

"No, girls," Masaki says firmly.
Finally, a glimmer of sane, responsible parenting.
"But we-"
Yeah, even I'm against kids THAT young taking the Trials.
"Listen to your mom, girls," Isshin tells them.
Do we even HAVE any monsters that they could fight?
"Awww."
Um... there's individual Keese, some of the smaller slimes...
"No fair."

Since it's going to take Ichigo a few minutes to get to his room, change, and return, you go ahead and ask for another volunteer to face the Trials.

There's a few responses, but Cordelia is the first to speak up.

Seeing as how she has access to her ki AND has fought a few monsters and demons before, you don't see any reason to interrupt as she makes her way down into the arena.

Cordelia's First Trial takes place in a grassy field, peppered with bushes and one or two small trees. For a moment, it seems like she's alone, but then the scrubs rustle and shift as something emerges.

Something red, and with tentacles.

STONE-SPITTING CEPHALOPOD: OCTOROK

Cordelia assesses her first opponent, and then lets it make its move, sidestepping the rock that the land-going octopus spits at her. Then, surprising you slightly, she falls back to where the rock landed in the grass - dodging a couple more shots along the way - kneels to pick up the stone, and then grimaces at the spittle covering it.
Is she doing what I think she's doing?
Wiping the rock off on the grass as best she can, Cordelia ducks a fourth projectile and takes as firm a grip on the fallen stone as she can.
If you think she's about to turn an Octorok's favorite weapons against it...
Then she charges in and slams her makeshift weapon into the side of the Octorok's bulbous head.
...then, yes, I'd say she is.
The monster's eyes bug out in shock and protest at having one of its own weapons turned against it.

The Octorok doesn't go down with that one attack, and Cordelia spends a few moments on the defensive, slapping away its grasping arms and avoid its snapping beak. You aren't overly worried; you know from observation and experience in Lu-sensei's class that Cordy has put plenty of time and effort into learning how to break a stronger opponent's hold, and the only things that really make an Octorok's grip "stronger" than that of a human are the extra arms and the suckers on them.

A few more hits from the rock deform the monster's bulbous mantle, and a final kick deflates it entirely.

The Second Trial is set in another daytime desert-scape, with no sign of any monsters nearby. As soon as she's confirmed that, Cordelia's gaze drops to the sand under her feet, no doubt forewarned by all the previous Trials that had creatures rising up from below the surface - and one obligingly emerges.

The monster's fleshy green body is shaped something like a top, and spins slowly in the same manner, thick white spikes protruding and then withdrawing in a slow, rhythmic pattern almost like breathing. A few feathery fronds stick out from the center of the creature's broad crown, their tips a vivid purple.

DEADLY WHEELING CACTUS: LEEVER

The Leever's spinning movements turn its thick spikes into both weapon and shield, deflecting an enemy's poorly-aimed or mistimed blows even as they seek his - or in this case, her - blood. Should you get past that, the monster's skin is tougher than that of any mundane cactus, sapping the force from strikes.

For one lacking the skill to land a strike through a Leever's first line of defense, a weapon powerful enough to crush it, or magic that can bypass it entirely, the proper course of action is to let the monster tire itself out before you attack. Leevers can't spin around forever, and once they've slowed or stopped, they're easy targets - as long as you catch them before they decide to burrow back into the loose sand. As for the thick skin, the customary approach is to have a strong arm and a sharp sword... which doesn't really help Cordelia.

She tries clubbing the Leever with her stolen rock, to little effect; Octoroks prefer the smoothest stones they can find, and a few weeks churning around in the monster's stomach tends to wear any sharp edges down anyway. A good solid kick is about as helpful, although if she focused her ki more, then maybe...

You can see Cordelia seriously considering that, even as the Leever instinctively responds to the two blows - regardless of their ineffectuality - by drilling itself back underground.

As the monster disappears, Cordelia looks around the battlefield a second time. There are no small, sharp stones laying conveniently about, nor do any of the stone formations half-buried in the sand have any little outcroppings that could be smashed off and weaponized.

"...guess it's time for the mermaid trick," Cordelia mutters, moving her rock to her left hand, and flexing the fingers of her right.

"...hey, Alex?" Briar asks.

"Yes, Briar?"

"What's the 'mermaid trick?'"

"I don't know," you admit.

Cordy did mention that she met two groups of mermaids last summer - one bunch friendly, the other not so much - so it would have to be something she saw at least one of them do. But what sort of combat abilities might a mermaid possess that a human could use against a plant monster? Particularly in a desert?

...she's not going to spit on it, is she?

When the Leever reappears, a replay of the first "round" of this battle is carried out, with Cordelia focusing on avoiding the monster's spinning, spiked ramming attacks and letting the creature wear itself down. As the Leever slows, Cordelia curls her fingers into a claw, measuring its slower and slower spin, before rushing in and thrusting her hand forward like a spear.

The Leever warbles and shudders as Cordelia's neatly-manicured fingernails pierce its hide, fingers sinking in almost to the second knuckle - and then it makes the same alien sound of pain again as, with a flex of her fingers and a twist of her wrist, Cordelia pulls her hand free, ripping out chunks of plant-flesh along the way. There's no blood or sap, but water weeps from the gouge in much the same manner.

"So that's the mermaid trick?" Briar asks.

"I guess so," you reply, while looking at your own right hand and musing on how to adapt Ki Enhancement to get that sort of effect. It'd really just be a Ki Strike, wouldn't it? Only for someone with longer fingernails.

...should you stop cutting your nails, maybe?

Cordelia's "mermaid trick" hardly compares to the sort of damage you've seen the monster-girls of your acquaintance cause, much less the ridiculous destructive power Akua pulled out, but it's enough of a weapon to let her deal with the sort of opponent she's facing.

Granted, it takes a while, with Ichigo returning just as the fight is winding down.

The boy takes in the sight of the active Ring, and then just nods to himself and leans against the wall, content to wait his turn.

Seeing that, you decide to sneak down for a quick word.

Meanwhile, Cordelia has moved on to her third opponent: a monocular, four-legged crustacean.

LEAPING SPIDER CRAB: TEKTITE

Once again taking a cue from prior competitors, Cordy goes for the eye.
Hahaha! No mercy!
The Tektite leaps out of the way of the knife-hand strike with a screech that you'd swear sounded alarmed.
Can you blame it?
"Hey, Alex," Ichigo greets you. "How many rounds has your friend done?"

"This'll be the third," you answer, glancing into the arena, where Cordelia is chasing the Tektite. "She only asked to do six Trials, so you shouldn't have to wait too long."

"Good to know."

You regard Ichigo for a moment. He seems... not calm, exactly, but no more nervous than any other person about to face a challenging task.

"...do I have something on my face?" he asks.

"Besides your nose?" you remark rhetorically. "No, I just wanted to make sure you weren't being pressured into taking the Trials. I know you're not QUITE as keen on fighting as Tatsuki-"

Ichigo snorts at that.

"-and Akkiko and your family were being kind of pushy about it."

"Thanks, Alex, but it's okay. I do kind of want to see how far I can go in this."

You nod. "As long as you're sure."

"I am." Ichigo pauses, and smirks. "Although, if you could figure out a way to get Dad in there...?"

---

On second thought, growing out your fingernails to a "useful" length is likely to draw too much attention. There's also the danger of snapping off a fingernail, forgetting to retrieve or destroy it, and the fragment ending up in the hands of someone equipped to use it against you via sympathetic magic.

You don't know if a previously ki-infused fingernail would be more or less dangerous to you in such circumstances, and you'd rather not find out.

Besides, if a situation ever comes up where you NEED to rip something apart with your bare hands, you could always cast a Spell of Transformation and give yourself longer fingernails, or just skip to actual claws.

You make a mental note to talk to Cordelia about the potential drawbacks of her "trick."

Ichigo's smirk does not diminish as he considers your suggestion to get the Kurosaki ladies to turn up the heat on Isshin. If anything, it grows.

"That is a very good idea, and I really should have thought of it myself," he says. "Thanks, man."

"Happy to be of service."

Due to the fact that the Tektite can only get its own armored mass airborne so many times in rapid succession before it needs to take a short break, Cordelia eventually manages to chase it down.

Not that the monster is helpless when it does stop bouncing around: part of the reason its body weighs as much as it does is the armored shell that covers it, thickly enough in some older specimens to turn any bladed weapon; its mandibles and claws are in perfect working order; and its legs are lined with jagged spikes, suitable for slashing, hooking, or piercing, depending on how they hit.

Of course, the Tektite has only four legs, and the way its body is laid out, it normally uses all of them to stand. It has enough balance and flexibility to swing at Cordelia with one leg at a time, and it can - and does - rear up on its hind legs to lunge at her with both forelimbs, but it's far from the most adept melee combatant. A Tektite's preferred method of attack is to fall on its victim from above, crushing them with its weight and jabbing and slashing with as many legs as possible, from all directions at once.

Cordelia spooking the monster into running away to avoid getting stabbed in the eye kind of put paid to any chance of that - although that brings up a point.

"EWWWW!"

Namely, that Cordy is not exactly as practiced at - let alone sanguine about - jabbing her bare hand through something's eye as previous combatants have been.
Perfectly understandable, really.
"Ugh, this is DISGUSTING!"
There, there; it'll wash off.
She still DOES it, mind you, but not without making it very clear to all and sundry that she really, REALLY doesn't appreciate having had to.
And look! You killed it!
Fortunately for everybody involved, the Tektite eye-goo clinging to Cordelia's hand either disintegrates along with the rest of the body it came from, or just gets left behind when she moves on to the next Trial, which takes place in an open, grassy field.

Once more, there does not seem to be an obvious monster around, just a rather ugly sort of plant. Half a dozen thorny, hook-ended branches grow out of its squat trunk, forming two "rings" with the individual growths almost exactly one hundred and twenty degrees apart from each other. A relatively thin stalk rises from the top of the trunk, branching out into huge and curiously stiff blade-shaped leaves, which cast the entire plant into shade.

Those leaves twitch, and - somehow - begin to spin around like the blades of a helicopter, creating enough lift to drag the entire plant into the air. This reveals a sack-shaped tangle of roots, shedding dirt and twitching slightly as they are exposed to air and sunlight, while the whole monster rises overhead.

WICKED FLYING BLOSSOM: PEAHAT

Cordelia stares at this latest absurdity, and comments, "Gardeners around here must make a killing..."

Then the Peahat starts dropping its own little air force of Peahat Larvae - which look like rootless, inverted versions of the parent "plant," riding along on their whirling leaves and using the sharp edges for attack as well as basic mobility - and she has no more time to talk.

The Larvae prove easy enough to deal with. A single overhand blow is enough to sweep them from the air, and while it doesn't kill them, once on the ground, they lose all mobility. You know from your reading that these immature Peahats are not self-sufficient, and will eventually die once grounded.

The problem is the parent. It's staying well out of Cordelia's reach, content to hover and bombard her with its young until she tires and starts making mistakes when dodging their spinning blades. Cordy tries throwing her stolen rock at it, but the Peahat is surprisingly nimble, and buzzes to one side like a helicopter, evading the projectile altogether. Then it swoops down at her, low enough and at an angle that forces her to dodge or get minced on its much larger leaves.

"How do all these plant monsters even SEE?" Tatsuki wonders aloud.

You're honestly not sure about that yourself; the Holy Bestiary didn't have enough room to go into the details of monstrous anatomy, and the writer(s) seemed content to sum it up as "monstrous cheating and demonic nonsense."

Which, you know, is certainly a FAIR answer and all that, but doesn't really solve the problem...

That aside, the book did mention that Peahats can't stay airborne forever. Some of the adult-sized varieties can stay up for a very long time, but when they're as aggressive as this one, there's usually a limit.

Cordelia doesn't appear inclined to wait, though. After avoiding the adult's flying ram attack and clearing her immediate vicinity of the Larvae, she takes a familiar stance and brings her hands together in front of her chest.

It takes Cordelia a lot more focus and effort than you need to create a Ki Blast, but she does it, and when she fires the projectile off, its size and speed are such that the Peahat can't dodge it entirely.

And rather than aiming for the roots or the branches, Cordelia went for the rotary leaves enabling the monster's flight.

Her attack doesn't break any of them, but the impact DOES momentarily halt their spin, causing the Peahat to immediately drop out of the air. It hits hard, bouncing off its roots and then tipping over on one side, bending two of its leaves at the stem and leaving the whole vegetative mass laying in a dazed heap.

When Cordelia brings her ki-charged fingers down on the toppled trunk, there is a satisfactory screech.

With a flex of its roots, the Peahat hauls itself upright, straightens out its leaves, and starts spinning them around again. Cordelia doesn't fall back, however; instead, she ducks underneath the envelope of the whirling blades and grabs the nearest of the branches, pulling down in an attempt to pin the monster to the earth.

It doesn't work, and Cordelia yells in surprise as she's hauled into the air along with the Peahat. The monster wheezes as if in protest, its entire body leaning slightly in Cordelia's direction as her weight produces extra drag. The Peahat starts shaking, trying to dislodge its unwanted passenger, but Cordelia holds on as tightly as she can with one hand, and starts delivering rapid knife-hand blows. More Peahat Larvae whirl out of wherever their parent keeps them, but they're meant to attack targets that are distant from their parent; the method of "launch" puts them too far away to pose an immediate danger to Cordelia, and by the time the Larvae have fully unfurled their leaves and built up enough speed to get into threatening range, Cordelia's done enough damage to the adult Peahat that it's beginning to sink once more.

This time, it doesn't get up.

Cordelia's Fifth Trial puts her in the woods, and up against another adult-sized, spear-wielding Moblin. Although an armed, intelligent, and larger opponent ought to be the most difficult challenge yet, the fact that the Moblin is humanoid in form and fighting style makes it easier to fight in some ways than the more bizarre Hyrulean monsters Cordelia has faced thus far. She actually manages to disarm the brute, and when it snarls and tries to rush her in anger, Cordelia uses one of the oldest tricks in the book of unarmed combat to flip the Moblin over her shoulder and onto its back.

While the forest goblin lies there, trying to make sense of what just happened and why its back suddenly hurts, Cordelia runs over to where its crude spear fell, snatches it up, and gives it a few experimental thrusts.

Gained Spear Training E (Plus) (Plus) (Plus)

Then she settles into a stance and aims the stone point of the weapon at its owner, who is picking itself up with a great deal of grumbling and whining.
Quit complaining, you wimp. She barely even bruised you!
The Moblin gets as far as its hands and knees when it sees what's become of its spear and goes still, eyes wide with unmistakeble shock and anger.

"Do you want to keep going?" Cordelia offers, with the kind of smile that is no smile at all. "Or would you like to give up?"
Oh, I like that.
Lu-sensei HAS covered the use of spears in class, but not in any special depth compared to any other weapons. He's spent a great deal more time on knives, actually, as they're the sort of weapon a modern-day martial artist needs to know how to defend against - and even then, it's been almost entirely on how to avoid getting yourself cut by someone else using the blade, not how to employ it yourself.

But right then and there, between that surprisingly competent-looking stance, that air of confidence that says she could strike the Moblin dead with its own weapon before it could stand up, and that menacing smile that's just asking it to try?

Gained Acting B (Plus) (Plus)
Gained Threat D (Plus)

Yeah, you're not surprised when the Moblin whines and throws its paws into the air in defeat.
Not bad, girl. Not bad.
Cordelia's smirk turns a shade more genuine. "That's what I thought."
Now for the real test.
When the haze of transportation fades, the setting for the Final Trial is revealed.

It's a street in some small town, lined with parking spaces and a variety of small stores that range from a bakery to a pawn shop to a restaurant. No doubt bustling with activity during the day, it's eerily quiet now, every store sporting a "CLOSED" sign hanging in a shuttered window and virtually every light turned firmly off. The only exceptions are the marquee of a run-down theater and the faltering, buzzing glow of a few scattered streetlights, too far apart to really fulfill their purpose. The main source of light is the full moon hanging over the darkened urban landscape, which paints everything in shades of pale. Shadows seem to crawl out of the surprising number of tall, dark alleys squeezed in between the buildings.

Cordelia's smirk slips away as she recognizes Sunnydale's Main Street. At night.

Then, from out of one of the alleys skips a girl. Blonde and youthfully pretty, she could be any one of a hundred high school students you pass on the street every day, except perhaps with a taste for darker, more concealing clothes than is the norm in Southern California. But one look at her face puts the lie to that, with that lumpy brow-ridge, the sickly yellow eyes below it, and the mouth full of fangs, bared in a hungry leer.

DEMONIC UNDEAD HAEMOVORE: VAN-TAL MINION

For a moment, the auras of several of your guests intensify in disgust, and in some places, even stronger emotions. Your attention is most drawn to-The Memorians.

Drinking songs of questionable lyrics and the occasional group cheer aside, the Memorians have been pretty quiet throughout the party. Some of that, you expect, is down to the extra-dimensional nature of all the Mansions providing excellent soundproofing, and more is due to the presence of other ghosts and supernatural adults the long-dead soldiers can interact with on something approaching even terms.

They're not being quiet now, though. The appearance of the vampire appears to have quite thoroughly angered the entire contingent, and you can hear more than one soldier spitting ancient curses.

"Go for the heart, girl! Spear the accursed thing through and through!"

"Dust to dust!"

The others are approximately 500% in support of Cordelia.

Thinking back, you recall Captain Marcus saying that Memoria was having problems with a demonic cult that had established itself in a neighboring state. While you never did get a detailed explanation about that, you're familiar enough with the supernatural to know that corpse-demon vampires are basically the black rats of the Moonlit World. Finding them associated with a group of demon-worshippers trying to take over a country really wouldn't be a surprise; if anything, it's their ABSENCE from such a scenario that would be a shock.

Last you knew, only Captain Marcus and Magus Hermanus knew the details, but it's been months since your last visit. From the way the rank-and-file ghosts are reacting, the story has apparently gotten around since then.

Seeing as how they have the strongest collective reaction to the appearance of the... Van-Tal... it's only natural that your attention would turn to the Shuzens next, and to your complete lack of surprise, every single member of the family looks disgusted by the mere sight of the corpse-demon.

What IS surprising is that Akua's expression is actually managing to match those of the adults for sheer hateful loathing. In fact, not only is she radiating a faint haze of unstable youki like her younger sisters, it's intense enough to have taken on a dark violet hue rather than the bloody red of the other girls. Even with your senses dialled down, the aura is clear as day.

Gained Ki Sight A

Every source you've consulted, from the online encyclopedia of Demons, Demons, Demons to your use of Divination Magic, agrees that corpse-demons are vile, contemptible things. Even so, there's no way that mere academic knowledge and an inherited familial grudge would make someone with the kind of trained discipline that Akua has to have become THAT visibly upset in public.

Hate like that is PERSONAL.

Fortunately, before Akua can do more than startle and disturb the rest of the sensitives in the audience, her new pet Keese squeaks in discomfort from its exposure to her menacing aura, and starts struggling to escape the feeling of imminent death. The young vampire blinks in surprise, looks down at the smaller monster, and winces in embarrassment before reining in her aura and proceeding to soothe the Hyrulean bat.

Behind her, you see a look pass between Akasha, Gyokuro, and Issa - concern, curiosity, and concession.

The other aura that catches your interest is the one belonging to your formerly-demonic tutor. This is mainly because you're curious about when and how Batreaux might have had contact with corpse-demons; to the best of your knowledge, they're not found in Hyrule, and they certainly wouldn't be allowed into whatever corner of the spirit realms the Golden Goddesses maintain as the afterlife for their faithful and favored.
Damn right they're not.
That implies that Batreaux's experience with Van-Tal demons either predates his association with Hyrule and its peoples, or involved some rather extraordinary circumstances. Possibly both.

You may have to ask him about that later.

Or, you know, NOT.

Either way, one look at your sorcerous sensei's face reveals he's no more pleased to see a corpse-demon than the Shuzens are - and also that, despite his normally cheerful, energetic, and perfectly harmless demeanor, the man has a face that's truly made for scowling.

"WRETCHED thing," Batreaux rumbles.

Cordelia visibly flinches at the sight of the undead vampire, but even as she does so, she's once again adopting a ready stance with the spear.

The demon's ugly smile fades slightly as it takes this in, and it hisses, catlike, as it begins to circle the smaller girl. The monster keeps its distance from the spear, far enough back that Cordelia would have to take two steps and a lunge to strike it at all.

"Little girl with a big stick," the corpse-demon croons tauntingly. "Oooh, I'm so scared."

Cordelia doesn't reply. She just keeps turning to follow the vampire, and keeps the point of her weapon level with the approximate position of its chest.

"Awww, what's the matter, sweetheart?" That hideous smile comes back. "Cat got your tongue?"

"Don't call me 'sweetheart,' you cheap old hag," Cordelia returns.

The vampire stops with a growl. "What."

"You've got a face worse than a bulldog-headed goblin's, which makes you a hag. Your clothes look like they came out of a bargain bin in the Eighties, which makes you cheap AND old, and your hair is like something my mom's friends wear, which makes you even OLDER."

"What!?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, granny. Is your hearing going, too?"

The vampire snarls and charges.

Damn, Cordy.

Although your friend gets her weapon set to receive the charge, the vampire's speed and her own lack of combat experience with spears work against her. She hits the demon but misses its heart, instead getting the head of the spear jammed against the right shoulder. The shock of the impact and the unnatural force behind the vampire's charge should have bowled Cordelia over at that point, but she keeps her footing and only skids backwards a short distance along the tarmac, indicating that her Ki Enhancement is up and running for all it's worth.

This leaves all the pressure on the Moblin's spear, which is, unfortunately, not equal to the task.

The shaft bends, cracks, and shatters into splinters, all in the span of a second, allowing the enraged corpse-demon in (old) teenager's clothing to continue its charge largely uninterrupted.

A brief but intense melee follows. Even though Cordelia must have her ki running full-blast, her enemy is still stronger and tougher than she is, pound-for-pound - and it's got more pounds to work with, even if the body the demonic essence inhabits is that of a classic Valley Girl. Reach is also in the blood demon's corner. It's not faster, however, and what passes for its fighting style is crude at best - savage as anything, but too reliant on the vampire's unnatural advantages over its mundane human victims, and not enough on actual skill.

In that regard, Cordelia is the leader, a fact which visibly surprises and quickly starts to frustrate her foe.

And while she may not be any great shakes with a spear, you know Cordelia's hand-to-hand skill is another story.

The vampire clues into THAT little fact when Cordelia stabs it with her fingernails.

The main problem with the vampire proves to be its sheer endurance. It's undead, and for all that the body still reacts to pain like a living human, it's not really being HURT by a lot of those strikes. The "mermaid trick" is more of an issue, but now that the demon has clued into the threat, it's being careful not to give Cordelia the chance to really sink her claws into it.

More urgently, the corpse isn't tiring, whereas Cordelia will eventually run out of both ki and physical stamina.

Good thing she didn't put down the broken end of the spear, then.

It takes a few attempts for Cordelia to properly stake the corpse-demon. Her first attempt just further splinters the jagged end of her makeshift implement, and the second is deflected by the vampire itself. The third connects, sending the monster staggering backwards with a shocked gasp, but as you get a clearer view of the stake, you see that it's too far to the right, and frankly too shallow.

"So close," someone in the crowd hisses.

After looking down at its wounded but un-dusting chest, the vampire raises its head and sneers. "You missed, brat."

Cordelia says nothing, even as her opponent yanks the length of wood from its chest. The wound doesn't close, but also doesn't appear to particular bother the demon.

Raising the stake, the vampire growls, "There's a saying that a little twerp like you probably doesn't know. It goes, 'spare the rod, spoil the child.' Well, I'm not going to spare this rod. Not at all. Going to shove it riYIIII!"

And then the Ki Blast that Cordelia had been forming as she fell back slams into the vampire's face. The attack is several times brighter than the one she used against the Peahat, brighter than a stable Ki Blast has any reasonable NEED to be, which tells you that Cordelia deliberately messed around with the technique - probably sacrificing striking force, which wasn't likely to do much, for more light.

It staggers backwards, howling and clawing at its eyes, which must be stinging terribly after getting such a bright flare applied directly to them in such murky surroundings.

"You little witch!" the vampire rants. "When I get my hands on you, I'm gonna-"

THUNK.

Once again, the corpse-demon is cut off in mid-threat, and looks down at her chest, where the butt end of the broken spear - which it dropped when it reflexively tried to shield its eyes - now sits between the fourth and fifth rib on the left side of its body.

Grimacing slightly, Cordelia pushes against the butt of the spear with both hands, shoving it deeper.

The vampire scowls. "Well, shi-"

And then, with a flare of unnatural light and a snarl of alien fury, its body turns to dust where it stands.

A ROAR goes up from the audience, and quite a few people leap to their feet, applauding or moving towards the stairs to greet Cordelia when she emerges from her Final Trial.

---

Seeing as how you came down to greet Ayane because she doesn't have any family attending the party with you, it only seems fair that you walk over to congratulate Cordelia, too.
Do you think we should give her a spear? Because she did pretty well with that one.
You aren't the only one doing so; Ichigo tags along - probably meaning to get his Trials started in the aftermath, you reflect - and of course, there's the people coming down from the seats. You're in no hurry to get swept up or trampled by the crowd, so you let the most excited audience members go on ahead of you, and take your time catching up.
Tempting, but I was thinking we should do something about that curse she's under.
Despite the excitement of the younger members of the crowd, Lu-sensei is the first one to get to Cordelia, going from his seat to standing beside her as if in a single, easy step. They even have time to exchange a few words as teacher and student before the faster of the kids catch up - Tatsuki and Kokoa leading the pack, but Amy and Zelda not far behind them.
You're not suggesting we break it, are you?
What with one thing and another, by the time you get through, you have just enough time - and space - to offer Cordelia a brief, if heartfelt congratulations, before Elder Terok is there, bulling his way through the mob of short(er) people.
No, I was thinking about doing something to limit its effects.
Knowing by now what comes next, everybody falls quiet and backs up a step or two, giving the Goron priest room to do his part in the award ceremony.
I could get behind that.
What emerges from the golden light this time is a small ring, set with a green stone in the shape of a triangle. It's pretty enough, if not exactly flashy. If you look very closely - and you do-

Gained Mage Sight A

-you can just make out a whisper of divine magic, shading into the Schools of Abjuration and Enchantment. It's not a spell meant to protect against gross physical threats, having more in common with the cleansing and purifying spells you used to use to scrub off the Hellmouth's taint, back before Ambrose warded your house. It's not quite one of those either, though. It feels more like the Spell of Blessing that you hardly ever use (and then, only in periodic refresher classes), if not an exact match.

What are the Goddesses up to with this one?

Cordelia catches the Green Ring in her palm as it descends from the air, and holds it there for a moment before looking at you and Terok.

"Magic ring?" she asks.

"Magic ring," you confirm.

"Blessed ring," the priest corrects you both. "There's a difference."

Cordelia eyes him for a moment, then turns back to you. "So, magic ring."

Terok sighs as you once again reply in the affirmative.

"What does it do?" your brunette best friend inquires, still not putting the ring on. "I mean, I'm guessing that it's not the One Ring to rule them all or anything like that."

Although mightily puzzled by that remark, Elder Terok explains that the Blessed Green Ring is meant to reduce the effects of curses and general mystical malice the wearer is exposed to. It won't break or suppress a curse, and its power can be overwhelmed by sheer quantity or quality of malevolent magic - but that would require something like a dozen minor curses stacked up on top of each other, or a major one meant to inflict physical injury, illness, or death.

"Limiting the effects of subtle or long-term corruptive influences like the Hellmouth is well within its power," the Priest of Din says. "And it's a solid foundation for building up more powerful and permanent personal protections, assuming that you're willing to face additional Trials in the future, or the boy here works out how to upgrade it."

As soon as he finishes saying that, Cordelia slides the Green Ring on her finger.

The gem winks once, its aura shining more clearly for an instant as pure, cleansing energy rushes over and through Cordelia's system. Then the magic fades to the faintest background hum, barely perceptible even to your augmented eyes and ears.

Gained Mage Sense A

Is there anything in particular you want to say here and now?

Although the press to congratulate Cordelia on dusting her first corpse-demon continues for a few minutes more-

It's rather a shock when your PARENTS, of all people, show up to talk with Cordy about that.

-everybody eventually clears out and heads back to their seats, allowing the next round of Trials to begin.

Ichigo steps forward, sends a last look to his family - waving back at the twins, bouncing with excitement as they are - and enters the circle.

His First Trial takes place on an open grassland. As the haze of transportation fades, the boy from Karakura assumes an opening stance-

!

-only to falter in shock as he catches sight of his opponent: a quivering mass of blue jelly, with the vague suggestion of a face on one side.

Ichigo's exclamation of, "Seriously!? A Slime!?" is echoed by the rest of the Japanese contingent, some of whom cry out about "Dragon Quest" for some reason.

Gained Knowledge (Video Games) E

WICKED TREMBLING JELLY: BOT

Then the creature bounces towards Ichigo, and all protests cease.

It's a short fight. The Bot can't do anything except throw itself at Ichigo, and while its body does seem to have some degree of resistance to being smacked around with bare hands and sneakered feet, said defense is not particularly strong. The monster also doesn't appear to be corrosive to the touch, or at least not with the kind of rapid reactivity necessary to pose a danger in combat; at the very least, it's not burning the grass it lands on.

Aside from getting a terrible gooey mess on his hands and one foot, Ichigo comes out perfectly fine.

The next Trial puts him up against another Octorok-on-the-shore, which Ichigo deals with handily, but the Third Trial drops him in a graveyard, where a lone ghost can be seen drifting about the tombstones. Unlike the shrouded Poe, this one resembles the sort of ghost you'd see in a cartoon, being little more than a puffy white body with stubby, fingerless arms, a wispy tail, and a face on the other end. It has only one huge yellow eye, however-

"Even the GHOSTS, now!?"

-and a wagging red tongue hangs from its mouth, enhancing the spirit's almost comical appearance.

SLOBBERING GRAVEYARD HAUNTER: GHINI

This fight starts off a bit slow. Ichigo has enough experience with ghosts not to let his guard down, no matter how silly this one looks, but he's obviously uncertain about attacking one. His first strike is halfhearted at best, and passes through the Ghini's white lower body without apparently harming it.

Isshin groans.

In return, the ghost's tail whips around Ichigo's arm and yanks him forward, off-balance and into range of a most dreadful attack.

*SSSSLLLLUUUURRRRP*

"Gyeeeeaaaah!" Ichigo howls in protest, thrashing against the grip of the Ghini's tail as its huge red tongue leaves a trail of spectral slobber across his face and head. "Let go!"

The Ghini does not let go. Its tail seems to grow longer and, never relaxing its grip on Ichigo's arm, starts to loop itself about his shoulders.

*SSSSLLLLUUUURRRRP*

"Eeeewwww!" Ichigo groans, shuddering in disgust at the second lick.

Then his free hand comes up, surrounded by a faint ripple, and punches the ghost in the eye.

Unlike previous monsters, Ghini's eyeball doesn't suddenly burst under the pressure - but it does wail in pain, snap its eye shut, and release its grip on Ichigo as it flinches back from the blow. The boy in turn backs off from the ghost, spitting ectoplasm from his lips as he tries to rub it off his face and out of his hair.

He doesn't have much success with the latter.

With his ridiculous spiritual power now somewhat focused by anger, embarrassment, and sheer revulsion, Ichigo leaps to the attack.

"Go for the eye, boy!"

The Ghini doesn't go down easily. Not only is it rather spiritually-hardy, but when Ichigo's aggressive assault takes him too close to one of the neglected, crumbling tombstones, a second Ghini starts to rise, moaning in protest at being disturbed. That surprises Ichigo enough for the first Ghini to get another playful-looking lick in.

Although the "attack" leaves Ichigo visibly shivering in a way you don't think is just disgust, it also makes him angrier, and that haze of spiritual power around his limbs becomes more focused and defined as a result. It's still not visible to the naked eye, but it's getting there.

And whether he can hear Isshin or not, like everybody else has taken to doing against these monocular monsters, Ichigo goes for the eye.

Whether due to the extra spiritual punch or the focus on a weak point, the boy eventually forces the Ghini to discorporate. And when the first spirit bursts into smoke, the newly-risen one vanishes as well, with a wail that sounds decidedly surprised.

---

You're definitely going to want to study the Blessed Green Ring later, with an eye towards unraveling and potentially replicating its abilities, but there's no need to bring that up right now, is there? It's not like Cordy or her new jewelry are going anywhere.

After the fight with the Ghini, Ichigo is dropped in the hills to try his luck against a Tektite.

"No Leever?" Briar muses.

"He doesn't have Cordy's fingernails-to-claws trick, or any kind of weapon," you venture. "And I don't think Leevers are vulnerable to spiritual energy. He'd have to wait for the thing to stop spinning, then hope he could hit it hard enough and often enough to actually do some damage."

At least with the Tektite, there's a weak point.

Of course, lacking the benefits of ki training, Ichigo isn't as fast, hard-hitting, or accurate as Cordelia, which makes hitting the bouncing spider-crab's eye much more of a challenge. In fact, the first time he manages it, he forgets to make a knife-hand, and ends up just punching the Tektite.

The monster flinches at the blow and squawks in pain, but it's far more an expression of annoyance than the shriek of injury you heard before.

And then, when Ichigo is too slow to dodge, the Tektite gets its revenge by hopping forward, shoving the boy over onto his back, and then leaping into the air and coming down right on top of him.

"Oooh," Briar winces. "Bug bodyslam."

Ichigo cries out in pain under the weight of the Tektite - which is as big as he is - but he appears to have avoided getting slashed by its claws or spiked legs. The Gi of Protection at work? It's possible.

The fight ends a few moments later, when Ichigo rolls over onto his hands and knees, and then - with a shout of effort - forces himself to his feet. This sends the Tektite toppling over onto ITS back with a screech of surprise, a position from which it doesn't seem to be able to right itself.
Do we count that as a win?
There's a pause, then, almost as if the Goddesses aren't quite sure how to score this outcome.
It can't fight anymore, and I'd rather not force the boy to literally kick an opponent while it's down, even if it IS a monster.
The answer comes when Ichigo is moved on to his Fifth Trial, which has him facing a Poe.

That's as far as he advances. The strawberry gives it a good effort, and gets in a few blows that the lantern-waving ghost really seems to feel, but in the end, he's going up against an intelligent, weapon-using opponent capable of flight and ranged attacks, with nothing but his fists and a little spiritual oomph.

It's not enough, and when the Poe's lantern smacks Ichigo in the face, he goes down.

For his aborted efforts, Ichigo receives a wooden practice sword.

"It's a sign," Isshin declares, folding his arms and nodding soberly. "Your training will begin immediately."

Masaki sighs.

"Actually, Mom," Ichigo says with a bright smile, "that sounds like a great idea."

"It does? / It does?" Masaki and Isshin say in stereo.

Then Isshin clears his throat. "I-I mean, of course it does! No time like the present!"

"Yeah, exactly. I mean, I've got this new sword, and we've got this Ring right here; it's the perfect chance for Dad can show me how it's supposed to be done!"

"Exactly! I- wait, what?"

Masaki catches on faster than her husband, and starts grinning. "You know what, Ichigo? You're exactly right; that IS a great idea. After all, SOMEONE has to uphold the family honor, right, dear?"

Isshin smiles wanly. "Yes, dear."

"Go, Daddy!" Yuzu cheers.

"Fight the monsters!" Karin agrees.

Isshin's smile becomes more genuine at the support from his daughters. "Oh, girls..."

"And try not to lose too soon!"

And now he's hanging his head. "Oh, girls..."

Following a moment of despair, Isshin sighs, straightens up, and holds out his hand to his son.

"Let me see the sword, Ichigo."

Ichigo hands his new training weapon over to his father, who steps back from his family and tests its weight and heft. For all that the movements are slow and awkward, there's a whisper of real skill in them all the same, remnants of long-practiced technique that haven't quite decayed to nothing despite years of disuse.

Then he glances at the Triforce emblem. "Three, six, or nine rounds, huh?"

"And all the kids so far have tried for at least six rounds," Masaki reminds him.

"...well, six doesn't sound TOO terrible-"

"But as a grown man," the Kurosaki matron goes on, "you should be able to do better, right?"

"Were we even watching the same fights, woman!? These kids are crazy!"

Despite his protests, Isshin ends up agreeing to face Nine Trials. With a final sigh about how this is SUCH a bad idea, he steps into the heart of the Ring-

!

-and nearly stumbles over his own feet in shock when he finds another Bot waiting for him on arrival.

"Oh, come ON! I'm not THAT far out of shape!"
Oh yeah? Prove it.
*Boing, boing* goes the blue slime monster, as it bounds towards its latest victim.

Isshin sighs, hefts his borrowed weapon, and delivers a two-handed overhand blow that neatly carves the Bot in half, right down the middle. The severed masses of slime splash to the ground on either side of the man, quiver a bit longer, and then go limp.
Huh. Guess he proved it.
Gained Mighty Blow D (Plus)
Beginner's luck.
Next up is an Octorok.

Isshin bats one spat stone aside, dodges the next as he advances, raising his weapon as he goes, and crushes the monster's head with another strong swing.
...okay, maybe not. One more to be sure!
The Leever he faces in the Third Round lasts somewhat longer, its fleshy hide withstanding several blows before it goes down. With each strike, you notice Isshin moving a little more smoothly - and it's rather interesting to note that, where Ichigo and other prior combatants have had some trouble fighting on desert sand, Isshin not only compensates for the loose footing, but does so with barely half a thought.
Alright, enough of the warm-up routine.
He's fought on sand before, and often.
Time to see what a Death God in human clothing is made of.
Round Four of Isshin's Trials is another man-sized Moblin, though one with a darker shade to its fur, and a somewhat higher quality of weapon and armor than the previous specimens. This time, it's an actual fight, the monster wielding its spear like a proper warrior, using its reach and the relative simplicity of its attack patterns to try and control the range, while Isshin tries to close into melee range without getting skewered.

Contrary to his stable stance in the desert, here in the forest, Isshin stumbles unexpectedly early on in the fight. There was nothing placed to catch his feet, and the way his body sort of jerked forward in an awkward shuffling hop strikes you as vaguely familiar - almost like the opening movement of a Body Flicker, except quite sloppily performed and far, FAR too slow.

Even with that obvious mistake and the spear-thrust that slides along his left flank, piercing the loud shirt and kissing the skin below, Isshin's expression is slowly becoming a mask of cool martial focus that you've seen dozens of times from your friends and sparring partners - just never from this habitual goofball of a grownup.

It's a bit jarring, honestly.

---

Isshin picks up a couple more scratches from the Moblin's spear before he successfully exploits an opening in the monster's defense, and gets close enough to start smacking it.

After several such hits, there is a worrisome *CRACK* from Ichigo's new sword, and on the next strike, the upper third or so of the weapon breaks off entirely.

Isshin grimaces at the state of his weapon, but responds by stabbing the broken length forward, piercing the Moblin's hide under one arm. As the dog-faced goblin gasps and reaches towards its injury with one hand, Isshin lets go of the broken sword and seizes his opponent's spear.

"Excuse me," he says, almost conversationally. "I need to borrow this."

Then he wrenches the spear out of the Moblin's one-handed grip, spins it around as he backs off, and delivers a straight, flat thrust through the monster's throat. The move doesn't hint at the kind of advanced prowess that Isshin's rusty, recovering sword technique did, but it's enough to show that he was at least proficient with such a weapon at some point in the past.

Gained Spear Training D

By this point, a lot of the crowd have started looking on with genuine interest as Isshin keeps showing off more and more of what must have been a highly-practiced armed combat style. There was a particular uptick in murmuring when he tried out that stumbling misfire of a Body Flicker.

Spear in hand, Isshin advances to his Fifth Trial, which drops him outside a forest at night, the familiar eerie blue glow of spectral flame betraying the presence of his next opponent. A shrouded wraith bearing a rusty old lantern drifts into view, catches sight of Isshin-

!

-and then both of its glowing eyes blink in astonishment, before the monster shrieks and brandishes its lantern in a downright fearful manner, almost as if it's trying to ward him off.
Huh, would you look at that?
TERRIFIED (?) WANDERING SOUL: POE
Once a psychopomp, always a psychopomp, I suppose.
For a second, you think you see Isshin smirk.

Then it passes, as he dodges a gout of ghostly flame unleashed from the spirit's lamp.

Although he may not be as skilled with it as he is with a sword, the spear's greater reach proves very helpful to Isshin, making up for the Poe's ability to fly and his own need to maintain a certain distance, so as not to get burned when it starts flinging phantom flames about.

And he doesn't get burned. Perhaps a little warmer than is strictly comfortable, but at no point does Isshin get caught by the Poe's eerie fire, even when the increasingly-frantic undead is devoting more and more effort to setting everything in its vicinity aflame.

It cannot keep this up indefinitely. From what you understand, the ghostlight trapped in those lanterns is supposed to be the Poe's own soul, and the fire a creation of its spiritual power. Poes aren't especially high up in the spectral hierarchy, though, and can only produce so much fire before they exhaust themselves.

Which is precisely what happens to this one.

And once it's no longer burning everything in reach, Isshin has little trouble spearing it.

No sooner has that phantom vanished, however, than another emerges. This one is not the familiar shrouded spirit clutching a lantern; instead, it first manifests as a lantern flying about by itself, while something unseen shrieks and giggles. Only after Isshin has dodged several swings of the metal box and a few blasts of Poe-flame does the spirit properly fade into view, and even then, it's only partially visible.

The faded-out body resembles a nightmarish doll, made all of a pale grey material bound together with grotesquely large stitches, which also seal its eyes and overlarge mouth. A wiggly tail, similar to that seen at the ends of more vaguely-formed spirits, trails from the back of its head, but aside from that, it's more or less humanoid in its design. Rather than holding its lantern from one hand, the ghost clutches it with both feet, leaving its hands and arms free to handle a heavy-bladed polearm - scythe-blade on one end, axe-like crescent on the other.

EVIL WANDERING SOUL: IMP POE

Isshin's Sixth Trial proves much more of a challenge. Not only is the Imp Poe armed, if it's left alone too long, its body fades out of sight. Once that happens, Isshin's only recourse is to stay on the defensive, waiting for the spirit to use up enough of its soul's energy that it can no longer maintain its invisible, intangible state.

He tries breaking the lantern, but the Imp Poe screams in fury and swings the iron box around in a circle, ghost-fire blazing in all directions to create a short-lived firespout. Isshin narrowly avoids getting cooked by that, and doesn't press his luck by invoking it a second time, even if the sheer expenditure of power DOES cause the monster to snap right back into the same plane of existence.

Phantom flames aside, spear against war-scythe could still be a pretty even match, except that not only is Isshin's rusty proficiency up against the Imp Poe's practiced familiarity, he's also using a weapon made mostly of wood against one that seems to be made entirely of metal. Even the haft of the ghost's polearm has a dull metallic sheen to it.

Isshin gets in two good strikes, a lot more blows that are dodged or parried, and then the Imp Poe traps the shaft of the stolen Moblin's spear behind the hooked curve of its scythe-blade, and bears down, laughing.

*SNAP*

And like that, the Kurosaki patriarch is out another weapon.

Holding fast to the lower half of the sundered spear, Isshin ducks one wild cleaving swing aimed at taking his head, rolls on the ground, and snatches up the other half of his weapon in passing. When he rises to his feet a moment later, the man spins around and throws-

!

-and the spearhead sinks right into the Imp Poe's stitched-shut mouth.

Gained Thrown Weapons Training E (Plus) (Plus)

The ghost shrieks and falls out of the air, scythe stabbing into the grassy turf as it falls.

Dropping the splintered piece of wood he's still carrying, Isshin leaps forward, seizes his opponent's fallen weapon, and swings it down at its previous master, axe-blade first.

Gained Axe Training F (Plus)

The Imp Poe's cry is *ahem* cut short.

Isshin wrenches the axe-head from the Imp Poe's deflating body and the soil beneath easily enough, and hefts the weapon consideringly, before giving it a sidelong swing-

"WHOA!"

-which nearly pulls him off his feet from the centrifugal force the top-heavy weapon rapidly builds up.

Gained Scythe Training F

Evidently, how to EFFECTIVELY swing around freaking huge death-scythes was NOT covered in Shinigami Combat Training 101.

---

Yeah, just because Isshin is a retired Shinigami is no reason to expect him to know how to wield a scythe in combat. After all, he's Japanese, whereas the Grim Reaper is really more of a Western thing.

"Even heavier than it looks," Isshin mutters, as he recovers from his swing. He turns his latest stolen weapon around, putting the axe-blade on the leading edge of a swing, and makes a couple more strikes. His control this time is better, though from what you can tell, he's even LESS familiar with the use of an axe than he was with a spear.

Is that going to count as a handicap, going forward?

Gained Axe Training F (Plus) (Plus)

The forest disappears as Isshin enters his Seventh Trial, which is set in another room of ancient stonework. The chamber is round and bears no small resemblance to a dueling arena, with stairs leading down into the central "ring" from all four cardinal directions. Isshin is at the top of the "south" staircase, and on the platform directly across from him lies a heap of old bones, with pieces of armor scattered about, a Hylian shield laying atop the pile, and an upright sword driven down into the platform, its blade clear of rust despite unknown ages of exposure to the air.

The empty eyes of the skull flash with dark light, and the different pieces of the pile click and clatter as they rapidly reassemble, the body rising taller and taller as it grows more and more complete. Pieces of the old but well-maintained armor ring out as they slam into place over the lower legs, chest, and shoulders, followed by the shield settling smoothly onto the left arm. Fully restored, the skeleton warrior takes hold of the hilt of its blade and draws it from the stone with a rasping hiss, and then points the business end of the weapon at Isshin, mouth dropping open in a wordless howl of challenge.

ANCIENT UNDEAD WARRIOR: STALFOS KNIGHT

Isshin raises his appropriated weapon in a rough salute, and both warriors descend the stairs into the arena, where they stand at the ready for a moment - incidentally making it clear that the Stalfos Knight stands head and shoulders taller than Isshin - before starting to slowly circle one another.

Though he is somewhat clumsy with it, Isshin's weapon is not a bad one for him to face this opponent with. Where the sharp edge of a sword or the keen point of a spear would be of little use against a foe with no flesh to cut or organs to pierce, the weight and resultant momentum of the axe-head poses a threat to armor and bone alike. The scythe is less helpful, but it could be used to hook a leg or arm, while its extra weight is useful and detrimental in about equal measure, adding force to the weapon's blows while impairing its balance and handling.

For its part, the Stalfos Knight seems to be well aware of the danger posed by the axe, and works hard to avoid directly blocking Isshin's attacks, instead dodging what it can and using shield or sword to redirect and deflect what it must.

Gained Shield Training D (Plus)

Isshin also has to be careful not to overcommit to a strike, because if he does and misses, he'll be left wide open - and with his lack of armor, the Stalfos needs only one clean strike to end the fight. Even leaving that aside, swinging the Imp Poe's axe-scythe takes a certain amount of effort; after six previous rounds of combat, Isshin has burned a lot of stamina, and can't afford to be wasteful with what reserves he has left.

Bones creak, air sighs, and steel hisses and clangs as the probing attacks continue.

Then the Stalfos Knight takes a step forward, menacing with its sword to push Isshin back - just enough so that the undead monster can bring the left side of its body up in a short, swift surge, shield-arm leading.

*WHAM*

Isshin doesn't quite take the blow to the kisser, but he goes stumbling backwards with a choked-off exclamation of pain and surprise nonetheless.

The Stalfos Knight's eyes flare brightly, sensing an opportunity, and its sword lashes out-

!

-only to be intercepted by the steel haft of Isshin's weapon. Even with both hands anchoring his weapon, it took a clear effort for Isshin to halt the Stalfos's sword, but he did it, and moreover, he's able to shove the weapon back and to the right, dragging its master off-balance. The staggering Stalfos strives to recover its footing, but Isshin is faster, moving from a shove into a spin, whirling himself and his weapon around as he brings it into position to strike.

The Stalfos can't back up fast enough to avoid the blow, and raises its shield-

!

-only for Isshin's swing to suddenly drop low, passing under the rim of the shield to go straight for the Stalfos's exposed hip.

*CRUNCH*

The sound of steel chopping into bone is most unpleasant.

*THUD*

The sound of the Stalfos's sword coming back around to slam into Isshin's face hilt-first is not much better.

The retired Shinigami goes staggering off to one side, clearly dazed from that hit, but not so stunned that he loses his grip on his weapon. Indeed, he retains the presence of mind to pull on it with extra force, tearing it free of the deep gouge in his enemy's pelvic bone with a grating rasp, and leaving pieces of broken bone to clatter to the floor. The Stalfos too is left staggering by this, which gives Isshin a chance to put some distance between them, wipe the blood from his face, and try to recover.

Being undead, the Stalfos gets over its injury faster, but it's slow to come after Isshin. The damage to its pelvis has definitely compromised its stability, and thus its speed; you can also hear the cracked and cloven bone grinding unpleasantly with each step, doing further damage to itself.

The Stalfos quickly stops moving around, and settles into a ready stance, dark glowing eyes fixed hatefully on its foe.

Isshin shakes his head to chase away the birdies, readies his weapon, and begins circling the Stalfos Knight once more. He moves much faster this time, a clear attempt to take advantage of the damage he just dealt - and it works, the damaged hip bone creaking ominously even as the Stalfos tries to turn to keep its quarry in sight.

The undead knight hesitates for only an instant, but it's an instant Isshin sees and seizes, hacking at the monster's spine with the axe-head.

The Stalfos Knight wheels about, trying to recover and get its shield into position-

*WHAM*
*CRUNCH*

-but it was too slow off the mark. Isshin's axe-blow clips the top of the shield, sails over it, and slams into the breastplate with enough force to blow the Stalfos Knight right off its feet.

As the skeleton falls, Isshin swings his weapon back up, and makes like a man with a woodpile.

*WHAM*
*CLANG*
*CRUNCH*

The breastplate takes another blow, and earns a second dent for its trouble, while the ribcage beneath audibly cracks under the pressure.

*WHAM*
*CLANG*
*CRUNCH*

The shield intercepts the next strike, staving in slightly. Then Isshin shifts his weapon around, hooks the scythe blade under the rim of the shield, and yanks it to one side hard enough that - though still attached to the Stalfos Knight's bony forearm - the shield almost ends up face-down on the floor.

Gained Scythe Training F (Plus)

The Stalfos Knight stabs upward with its sword, but Isshin sidesteps the blow and brings down the axe once again.

*WHAM*
*CRUNCH*
*CLANG*

The axe rings out in protest as it hacks down on the Stalfos Knight's damaged pelvic bone and spine, cleaves through, and bounces off the stone beneath, notching its own blade in the process.

Gained Sunder E (Plus) (Plus)

It's a worthy exchange. Not only is the Stalfos Knight damaged, it's lost the ability to stand up, crippling its mobility and sapping no small part of its striking power as well. It doesn't surrender, dragging itself upright and leaning on its shield while continuing to lash out at Isshin with its sword-arm, but this merely delays the inevitable for another minute or so before a final swing of the Imp Poe's polearm cleaves the skull from its bony shoulders.

As the Stalfos Knight falls back into a pile of sundered parts, Isshin lets out a sharp breath, wipes the sweat from his brow, and considers the notched axe-blade of his current weapon.

Then he tosses it aside and retrieves the Stalfos Knight's sword.

"Let go of that, will you? Hey, no scratching!"

Over the objections of its still partly-animate right hand, that is.

Isshin gives his new sword a few test swings, and while it's of a different style from the bokken he was using earlier or the katana such a training tool is meant to emulate, not to mention rather large, he proves more than competent with it.

After giving Isshin a chance to familiarize himself with the stolen sword, the magic of the Ring activates once more, bringing him to his Eighth Trial.

KNIGHT OF THE SHADOWED MIRE: JERMAFENCER

"Well, now," the tall knight muses, as he finds himself facing off with Isshin. "This IS a surprise."

"Five hundred yen says Isshin gets wrecked," Akkiko bursts out.

---

"Say what?" Akkiko exclaims in surprise.

"You heard me," you tell her. "Five hundred yen on Isshin not getting wrecked in this match."

"Alex!" your mother protests. "How much money is that!?"

"You can relax, Mom. It's only about five dollars American."

"...wait, seriously?"

"Give or take a few cents, anyway," you admit frankly.

Several other voices are quickly raised, declaring support for one side or the other of Akkiko's proposed wager, and in short order you have a few tens of thousands of yen on the table. Akkiko fields all the bets with the air of long practice, while beside her, Masaki glances heavenwards, silently beseeching someone or something beyond for strength.
Isn't making wagers on a divinely-appointed trial by combat sort of sacrilegious?
Even with that, however, she still puts a thousand yen down on her husband.
Maybe a bit, but I'd be a holy hypocrite if I told them to stop.
Gained Gambling F
After all, I know I'd put a few Rupees on the outcomes of these things, if I thought anybody would take me up on it.

Isshin looks up at the taller, fully-armored knight, and says with some concern, "Listen, about that business with your coach..."

"There is no need for you to concern yourself about that, Mister Kurosaki," Jermafencer replies, waving off whatever Isshin was about to say. "It has no bearing on the outcome of the Trials, or even my presence here."

"Oh. Well, that's a relief-"

"Though I would be a liar if I claimed I was not about to derive some personal satisfaction from this," the Knight of the Shadowed Mire admits, as he raises his sword.

Isshin can only hang his head, sigh, and then ready himself for what's coming.

The best you can say for the following bout is that it's not completely one-sided. Isshin's buried skill with the sword continues to come back to him more and more the longer he fights, and it's swiftly made clear that, before he fell out of practice, the man must have been incredible with a blade. If he doesn't have the same level of aptitude for his current, Western-style blade that you glimpsed when he was using a bokken, he's still keeping up with Jermafencer in terms of pure technique.

Giving him a weapon made of Hylian steel hasn't exactly hurt his performance.

It's not just technique, either. Isshin proves able to read Jermafencer's stance, attacks, and intent well enough that he can anticipate incoming strikes in time to dodge or deflect them, rather than being reduced to hard blocks - which, in light of the strength difference between the two swordsmen, would probably break his wrists.

That's the problem, though. For all that Isshin seems able to match Jermafencer in terms of pure skill - and that with the handicap of a less-than-optimal weapon - he just doesn't have the raw physical prowess to compete. Instead of quick, subtle shifts of posture and position that would allow him to dodge an attack by the width of a blade, thus maintaining a strong stance and conserving energy, Isshin has to almost literally throw himself out of the way of Jermafencer's strikes. When he either can or chooses not to do that, and instead parries the Fae-blooded knight's sword, the tension in the man's arms is visible, speaking volumes of the effort he has to put into his defense, and of how that taxes his already-diminished reserves.

More than that, Jermafencer has yet to shoot so much as a single shimmering firebolt at Isshin, let alone the great gouts of flame or the energy-based sword techniques he used against you.

On the one hand, okay, you get that an honorable knight would have a sense of fair play, and hold back from using certain abilities against an opponent he knew wasn't able to match them and hadn't done anything to really deserve them. But on the other hand...

"Is he just playing around with Isshin, or what?" Akkiko comments, frowning at the image within the Ring.

...the line between fair play and making light of your opponent's skills can be kind of thin sometimes. And you say this as an individual who has to hold back LARGE parts of your combat repertoire to avoid hurting your sparring partners.

Or the audience.

Or the buildings where you hold those matches.

Or the surrounding terrain.

...

The point is, you hold back against your friends, only escalating when they do, always trying your best to match their abilities enough to make a good fight of it. Since most of the people you've invited to your birthday have at least a vague idea of just how ridiculously powerful you are, they understand what you're doing and why, and generally don't take offence from it.

Jermafencer may be trying to do something similar with Isshin, but this isn't a friendly spar, or even a competition match. This is a trial-by-combat, overseen by literal gods. If the creature chosen to administer the Trial isn't taking it seriously, doesn't that kind of undermine the entire event?

Even as you worry over that point, Jermafencer steps up his game, a blue glow starting to build along the cutting edges of his weapon.

Isshin sees the impending Sword Beam, and to his credit, he doesn't panic. But the tension already radiating from his frame only grows more evident. He's seen how fast one of those blasts can fly, and how much damage it does on a hit. He knows he can't withstand it, and that his odds of evading it are slim - and that's assuming Jermafencer simply lets the technique's projectile form fly. If he keeps it in its melee form, enhancing his blows, parrying is going to become completely untenable for Isshin - but as tired as he is, dodging will only keep him in the fight a little longer.

Jermafencer unleashes a powerful sidelong swing, and with no room or time to dodge, Isshin lets out a defiant yell as he raises his sword to defend-

!

*CLANG*

-and then goes flying sideways, yanked right off his feet by the force of the strike.

By the groaning and general outcry from those parts of the audience that bet on Isshin, most people didn't see it. You don't fault them for that; if your eyes were any less keen, you might have missed it, too.

But your eyes AREN'T less keen, and so, you didn't miss it.

Just before it touched Jermafencer's blade, SOMETHING flashed across the edge of Isshin's stolen sword. It wasn't merely the blue-tinted glow of the Sword Beam reflecting off of the mirror-fine polish of Hylian steel; it was paler, almost transparent in fact. The main reason you were able to "see" it at all, in fact, is because it so very briefly obscured the energy wreathed around Jermafencer's sword.

From the way Masaki bolted to her feet and is completely ignoring the cursing from Akkiko, you aren't the only one who noticed.

"Ah, excellent!" the knight in question proclaims. "I was beginning to think you were crippled entirely."

Isshin mumbles a reply that's either too quiet for the Ring's magic to pick up, or which the Goddesses deem unsuitable to be heard by the younger ears in the audience.
A bit of both, really.
"Well, then," Jermafencer says, as he strides over to look down at Isshin's face. "I believe that constitutes a pass."

"WHAT!?"

On the floor of the Ring, Isshin lifts his head off the floor and squints up at his opponent. "Am I more concussed than I thought, or did I just hear you say I WON?"

"There WAS a reason why the Goddesses chose for half your Trials to be against spiritually-potent opponents," Jermafencer tells him. "Not to mention why I personally spent all this time bearing down on you with my aura, when I could have simply set you on fire."

"...I was wondering about that," Isshin admits, laying his head back on the stone. "Incidentally, thanks for not incinerating me in front of my kids and all."

"You're welcome," the knight says dryly. "Now, on your feet, Mister Kurosaki, and prepare yourself. You have one Final Trial left to face."

Isshin acknowledges that with a sigh, and accepts the extended steel-lined hand of support.

...well. You certainly didn't see that coming.

"What... just happened?" Tatsuki asks blankly.

"Dad won," Ichigo replies in the same tone. "Somehow."

---

"Try not to sound too disappointed in your old man, Ichigo," you dryly advise your friend.

Ichigo sputters something defensive, but your attention has already turned to another target.

"Oh, and Mrs. Arisawa? Pay up."

Akkiko grumbles, but she does reach into a pocket for a small coinpurse.

You were kind of expecting Isshin's Final Trial to have him facing the Mirror of Darkness, so you're simultaneously surprised and yet not when the Kurosaki patriarch finds himself standing across from Sage Elfaron.

The ancient Hylian peers up at the retired Shinigami, eyebrows and mustache furrowing noticeably as he frowns.

"My word," Elfaron mutters. "You ARE a spiritual mess, aren't you, boy?"

"In my defense, almost none of it was my idea."

"But you walked into most of it of your own free will," the Sage counters.

"And it was the right thing to do, every time," Isshin returns firmly.

The two of them square off, glaring, and for a moment you wonder if instead of seeing Isshin face a reflection of himself, you're going to see him try to take on a Sage instead.

Fortunately for Isshin, Elfaron chuckles. "Resolve. Good. You're going to need it. But," he adds, raising the Mirror of Shadows, "let's see what your friend has to say about your decision-making, shall we? Shadow, reflect!"

Isshin blinks. "Wait, what-"

He's cut off as the power of the Mirror sweeps out and around him. You aren't likely to forget what exposure to that magic feels like, how it seemed as if something cool - but not quite cold - and alien was reaching through your body, right down to your bones and your soul. It didn't hurt in the least, but it was uncomfortable and mightily strange, so seeing Isshin momentarily silenced by the same phenomenon is quite reasonable.

"Shadow, show!"

"YYYYOOOOUUUU IIIIDIIIIOOOOT!"

The way the fabric-wreathed humanoid figure comes ROARING out of the Mirror, fist-first and on a direct course to Isshin's chin, is rather more of a surprise.

Although roughly of a height with Isshin and having similarly dark and spiky hair, the Mirror-spawned entity doesn't have the bulk to be a twin of him - not even if you count the heavy bandages that appear to swathe him from head to toe, underneath the loose yukata. All you can see of his face are the eyes, black and burning like lumps of coal, and a thin-lipped mouth, currently spread wide in that derogatory shout. Some of the bandages appear dark with old blood, but others are blackened by ash and char - mostly where small tongues of blue-white spirit-flame are escaping from the being's body, but not entirely.

Not only is the newcomer heavily bandaged, he's also surrounded by spirit-ribbons, which hang in the air around him in the form of half a dozen great loops, each one heavy with dozens of ink-and-paper tags, small carved charms, and a couple of wind chimes.

SOUL-CUTTING SWORD-SPIRIT: *******

The flying punch connects, and sends Isshin reeling backwards with a pained yell, to land in a heap.

"You absolute, utter moron!" the newcomer rants. As he stomps around, waving his arms in the air with an ease that shouldn't be possible for all the bandages getting in the way, you see the spiritual bindings move with him, always keeping a particular distance. "You ignorant, incompetent, half-witted excuse for a *******!"

What was that?

"Nice to see you, too, *******," Isshin groans, as he starts to pick himself up.

There it is again.

It would seem that the Goddesses are granting a measure of privacy to Isshin and his... friend?

"Don't interrupt me when I'm pissed at you!"

"But you're always pissed at me," Isshin points out.

"THIS TIME I REALLY MEAN IT!"

Isshin sighs. "Look, I know I screwed up with *****-"

That earns him a hot-eyed glare. "And WHAT makes you think HE'S the reason I'm angry with you?"

Isshin blinks in confusion. "...you mean he's not?"

*WHAM*

"I JUST SAID THAT, IDIOT! Clean out your ears!"

Back in a heap on the floor, Isshin makes a sound of affirmation. Or pain.

"Don't get me wrong," Bandages growls. "I am so far BEYOND furious with that backstabbing traitor, it's a wonder I haven't combusted from SHEER RAGE. If we ever get a shot at him, YOU WILL TAKE IT, or so help me, I will UNMAN you."

"No worries there," Isshin replies.

Bandages grunts. "And before you say something else stupid, no, I am not angry with you for saving the woman's life. Even if you DID have to work with that overly-impressed with his own cleverness, too smart for EVERYONE'S good test-tube waving lunatic to pull it off."

"Good," Isshin says bluntly. "Because I would have had to kick your ass if you'd said otherwise."

Beneath the bandages, teeth flash in an expression too fierce to be called a smile. "You and what Division?"

Isshin promptly takes a swing at the guy.

WITH his stolen sword.

Which the Spirit in Bandages catches and stops with his bare hand, in what is clearly meant to be a contemptuous display of superiority.

It falls a bit short when his hand begins to bleed. Just a little, but enough to make the Sword-Spirit look down at the blade, his surprise and interest strong enough to be obvious even through his face-concealing wrappings.

Isshin takes advantage of that distraction to return the punches-to-the-face he's received.

And with that, they're off, sword against a Sword-Spirit's knife-hand strikes. Isshin doesn't manage to draw blood again, suggesting his opponent took steps to "harden" his body - something borne out by the metallic clanging whenever spiritual flesh meets steel, or the way those leaking plumes of fire flared up right after Isshin punched the guy, and have continued to burn brightly since.

For all the menacing pyrotechics, however, the spirit-fire seems to be subject to the same bindings as the Sword-Spirit himself. He doesn't try to throw fire at Isshin in any form, and there are a couple of points where the man really should have burned his hand by grabbing a part of his opponent's body that was on fire, only for nothing to happen.

The Sword-Spirit DOES attempt something that involves drinking a bit of his own blood and then spitting it back onto his hand and smearing it along the edges, but from the way he starts cursing in the aftermath, the bindings interfered with that, too.

In return, the edges of Isshin's sword flicker slightly when they cross with the enemy's stabbing hands.

Maybe it's just you getting your hopes up, but those flickers seem to happen more consistently, and with greater brightness, as the fight goes on.

While all of this is going on, Isshin and his opponent are talking. What they're saying is being blocked out entirely by the Goddesses, but you can see Isshin's reaction: shock; anger; protest; something that you'd label as "bargaining"; and eventually, after a lot of relapses into previous stages, grudging, mulish acceptance.

You have to wonder what they're arguing about.

You also wonder if your own conversations with the various Other Alexes were this edited.
In a few places, yes.
Because if so, it's nice to have confirmation that the Goddesses were helping you to keep a few personal or otherwise sensitive topics private.
You're welcome.
The fight between crippled Shinigami and heavily-bound Sword-Spirit is without question the closest and most brutal match of all of Isshin's Trials. All that rusty prowess he's been showing, the Sword-Spirit has as well; more than that, he clearly KNOWS what Isshin is capable of, reading his attacks the same way the man read Jermafencer's moves just a short time earlier. Yet the sword of familiarity cuts both ways, leaving Bandages as open and obvious to his opponent. Even their armaments seem equal, Hylian steel backed with a smidgeon of spiritual power holding up well against the cutting strikes of a restrained spiritual entity.

The main difference is that Isshin came into this Trial tired and injured, while his opponent is fresh, despite all the bandages. But even there, the magic of the Mirror of Shadows would have called forth a "reflection" that was in similar condition, which might explain some of the bloodstains and burns without obvious internal sources that mark the Sword-Spirit.

On and on it goes, sword against knife-hands, divinely-censored words flying back and forth with increasing volume and vehemence.

And then comes the end. Both men jump apart and gather their strength, Isshin's sword actually starting to glow, while a much more coherent light gleams around the Sword-Spirit's hands - though this seems to cost him, as his body wavers, frays, and burns unsteadily at the edges. Challenges are shouted, and as one, they leap forwards-

!

-and when Isshin swings, something that looks a lot like a weak, unstable Sword Beam flies from the end of his stolen sword, taking the incoming Sword-Spirit directly across the chest. The impact is negligible, enough to cut the outer layer of bandages in a small area, and perhaps draw a bit of blood - or maybe just raise a welt. It didn't actually hurt the spirit, and it certainly didn't do anything to stop his glowing-handed attack.

He does that himself when he slams both hands together, discharging the gathered energy as he catches the outthrust blade of the Stalfos Knight's sword to stop himself from getting spitted by it.

"That was pathetic," Bandages says, with a huge grin and a tone of genuine delight that in no way matches his words, or the fact that the signs of an impending collapse have spread throughout his entire form. "You call that a finishing move? A MOSQUITO wouldn't be taken down by that! And look at you!" he adds, letting go of the sword so one hand can gesture dismissively at Isshin, who's on his knees, panting and sweating as much from the effort of that last move as all of the fight that led up to it. "Wiped out by something that weak?"

Isshin glares at his opponent and says something that no amount of censoring can hide.

"You're not my type, Isshin." Another of those knife-edged grins follows, and then, "Although, if we could work something out with your wife-"

*POW*

Isshin socks him right in the kisser, a final surge of strength arising from pure husbandly wrath. The blow not only sends Bandages toppling over backwards, it also tips the balance of his wavering physical stability right over the edge, causing his body to begin breaking down into motes of light and shadow.

In sptie of that, the Sword-Spirit laughs all the way to the floor.

"Daddy won!" Yuzu cries out. "He did it!"

"Yay, Dad!" Karin crows.

Isshin bows his head and mutters something else that the Goddesses block out, as Sage Elfaron reappears to reabsorb the Sword-Spirit with the Mirror, and declare the Trial concluded.

When Isshin reappears on the sands of the Ring, the Stalfos Knight's sword has been replaced by Ichigo's wooden practice blade, restored as if it had never been damaged - which you know is pretty much the case, given how the Summoning Magic imbued into the Ring works.

In your passive spiritual awareness, the man's presence is just slightly... more, than it was before the Trials. Not stronger, exactly, but more active. It's a bit like the difference between a still pond and one that's had a rock thrown into it, or ice and meltwater - thanks to an external shock, energy that was once largely stagnant is now moving, if only slightly. Left alone, it will settle down again soon enough, but if not...

"I almost don't believe it," Briar says, as Isshin is greeted by his enthusiastically-cheering daughters, vaguely stunned son, and proud yet faintly worried wife. "Almost."

That aside, Isshin is the first of your guests to face all Nine Trials and emerge victorious, which means he's earned a Heart Container. Given how he'll be the first person on Earth other than yourself to be granted such an honor, it might be helpful if you were there to advise him on the different ways in which the relic's power can be applied. The final choice is Isshin's of course, but he'd probably appreciate some intel.

Then again, Elder Terok is right there, and could surely answer the man's questions...