"Alright, kid, show me what you got." "Kill Switch!" Harold effortlessly blew the Anima attack away with his dark Anima hands. Tyson gritted his teeth. "Nothing's happening." His frustration was evident to his friends. They were currently at the arena where Tyson had fought Elder Baraya earlier. Tyson was receiving training from Harold on how to harness his elemental anima. "As much as I hate to admit it," said Lex, who was sitting in the middle of Kaz and Jacob. "Seeing how the demon spawn is struggling to unlock his element makes me respect the historian and that shorty for unlocking theirs a bit." "Wow," said Kaz. "Who knew you could make compliments?" "I know, right?" Lex asks. "I feel like throwing up." Tyson had been following Harold's guide to unlocking his element. "Close your eyes, and try to sense all the shadows around you." Some people unlock their elements easily, and at a young age, others have to go through various trainings to reach that level.
"And that, my friends, was how Tyson and I met." Ernie finished his narration for his clanmates. They were currently taking a stroll on the streets of Border Town. "Wow," said Farrow. "Sir Tyson learned a lot from you and Sir Kaz. "Yep, Kaz always saw the good in him. Being an assassin may have been his birthright, but it wasn't his calling." "You inspired the captain to go on an adventure!" Vladimir exclaims. "Vladimir, are you crying?" Maggie asks. "What? No!" The former district commander refuted. I was just thinking of all the training I have to do; there were so many that I started sweating before I even got the chance to train. "Right." She rolls her eyes. "Anyway, shouldn't we get back to the Ark?" She asks. "In case of Tyson calls, we left all our phones there, you know." Ernie places his arm around the historian's neck. "Relax, Master. I can call you Magster, right?" "I uh.." "Great! You don't have to worry about Tyson, Kaz, or what his name is. Th
"Huh?" Tyson blinked his eyes. "Where am I?" He found himself in a white, empty room with no walls. "Am I on the astral plane again?" "Hey, lad!" He heard a voice ringing in his head. "Jacob? What's going on!?" "Calm down, lad; you're in your subconscious." Tyson's head felt foggy as he began to piece out what he remembered last. Jacob points his sniper at Tyson as Harold's purple Anima hands emerge from his back. "I need you three to die." A vein popped on his head. "You two attacked us!" He cursed. He recalled being shot by Jacob and Harold, who took out Lex and Kaz. "Sorry, lad, it was so we could proceed with unlocking' your second ayer... It's buried deep within your subconscious." "Yeah, quit whining already!" Harold's voice echoed in his head this time around. "We made sure not to hurt your kids too badly." "That's reassuring..." Tyson said it in a sarcastic tone. "Plus, how are we able to communicate?" "It's thanks to Kisha." "Kisha?" "
""Fiendlow!" Kaz and Lex were everything but glad to see the dreadful mask of the Don that created havoc in Ernia. "Hey, lads," Jacob calls. "How far are you with charging your second layer?" Lex and Kaz took a trip to their subconscious thanks to Kisha's abilities to locate their second layer, which was buried deep within. That was the first step in harnessing the second layer of astral energy within oneself. The next step required the two of them to concentrate and channel all their astral energy until it seeped into the second layer, thus granting them full access to it. They spent 2 hours doing that while Tyson remained stuck in his subconscious. "I'm 90% done." Said Kaz. "We're ready," Lex reassures. "Good," Jacob pulls out his sniper rib. "Cause from the look of things, we're in for one heck of a fight." "What do we do with him?" Lex asked, referring to Tyson. "I think that traitorous bitch locked him up in his subconscious to stop him from being a part
UNKNOWN LOCATION A woman wearing a brown cloak stood in front of a shabby building, sitting in the middle of a deserted village. She was attracted by the faint noise of movements from within the household. With her sword strapped around her waist, she made her way inside. What welcomed her was the unpleasant sight of two dead bodies—a man and a woman. "What are you doing in a place like this?" She said this to a boy who stood atop the bodies. "You shouldn't be holding something like that, boy." She pointed at the knife he was holding. Seeing that it was covered with blood, it didn't take much for her to realise that the boy standing in front of her had just killed those two people. "Are they your parents?" The boy shakes his head. He was hesitant to speak up at first until he saw the radiant smile on the woman's face. There was no malice on sight; he felt like he could trust her. "They kidnapped me." "I see. Well then, let's get this off of you." She crept
"Argh." The ex-assassin had been trying to lift the dark orb inside his subconscious, but to veil, the orb would not budge. "Why won't this thing budge!?" He shuts his eyes and begins to think of a way to lift the orb. "Think, Tyson, Think. There must be something that I'm missing. This is my subconscious, meaning everything here is inside my head and I have a certain degree of control out here." He stares at the glowing orb. He picks it up with ease. "I can lift this one easily, guessing that's my first layer." He chuckles. "To think they'd call them cores instead of layers but... Who am I to judge?" He hardens his gaze and slaps his face. "Focus Tyson. Your friends are in danger... I have to get out of here the soonest." An invisible light bulb appeared on top of his head as his face lit up. "Of course! That just might work." He tightened his grip on the glowing orb. "Here goes nothing..." Tyson slammed the glowing orb onto the dark orb on the floor and a shock
Old Dojo in Born Town Ernie was lying on the floor with his back leant against the wall. He had just finished making a roll and was ready to take a puff. He hits a blunt and says, "Well, we've been waiting for hours, bro. Are you sure Dimitri is going to show up?" He handed the blunt to Enrique, who was sitting besides him. "He told me he had some errands to run and would be back soon." "I'm tired of sitting around and doing nothing!" Vladimir exclaims. "Why did you even interrupt my training?" "Chill, big man." "Don't tell me to chill, little man." "Calm down, Vladimir. Ernie was just trying to help." Maggie scolds. "Yeah, you didn't have to mean about it, Sir Vladimir." "Sorry..." "It's okay, Vladimir, bro." "Vladimir bro?" The former district commander tilted his head, unaware of the creaking sound of the door opening behind him. "He's here!" Ernie's face lightened. A man walked into the dojo; he was wearing a black kung-fu uniform and had a belt s
"It's been hours since Vladimir began his training with Dimitri; don't you think we should check on him?" Maggie, Farrow, and Ernie were currently sitting on the deck of the Mini-Cruiser. "Nah, Dimitri isn't much of a people's person; Vladimir bro will just fine." The laid-back guitarist states this as he gets up. "Right now, we should focus on seeing what we can do to make you two stronger." "You mean us three?" "Yeah, don't you want to train as well, Bro. Kaz?" "Farrow, my man; I'm not a fighter; I'm a pacifist." The two Nightshades tilted their heads. "What are you talking about?" Maggie scoffs. "We fought Tyson's brothers together!" "That's right, and it was your unique Anima burst technique that brought the two brothers to their knees." "That's true, but that case was different; my friend needed me, and I had to step up. Most of my narly musical abilities are buffs, and the Anima burst doesn't really deal any fatal damage; it only forces my foes to cat