It took 180 hours of training inside The Training Ball. We literally trained inside a ball for 7.5 days. One must be wondering how we survived through all of those. Well, some of my classmates including our lecturer came in prepared. They brought out some of the necessities required for us to stay inside The Training Ball for the whole week. We kind of bonded through this long week but in actuality, we have only left the real world for three hours. Honestly, this Training Ball was amazing. I don’t know how much I’ve improved ever since I fought against those monsters back then. But I think it was a pretty crunchy experience.

Not to mention, I was also able to train Zenith to become better in combat. I even teach her some strategies while we’re resting. Occasionally, we would make ourselves comfy and start a 2 on 2 match. The matches were kind of a mess because of how difficult it was to work with someone you haven’t known much. But for a few others, the match either ends quickly or being long and intense when a Magic Duel entrant put their boots on. I thought I was the only one who entered the Magic Duel but I guess this kind of thing kind of exist on every high school. The matches only became long and intense because of some of the Magic Duel entrants had some experience on fighting in a group or a pair in this case.

“I’m full…” I said that as I finished my lunch. “What about you, Zen?”

Zenith smiled at me and nodded.

Even after all of the training we got, Zenith was still being distant to me. I don’t really get it. Is this one of the things that The Snow Phoenix did to her? If it is then I better find a way to save her, fast. If only I can enter a world where all the forbidden books can be read. But that is only possible in with some sort of forbidden magic.

“Come on, Zen. Let’s pay up.” We got up from our table and paid the lunch.

After buying some light beverage, we left The Pen and made our way back to our dorm. Along the way, trouble begins to loom in once again. I saw Yumiko was eyeing on me from afar. She was on the roof by the way. I don’t know why would she do that but that’s just attracting other people.

Zenith then moved in front of me and shielded me.

“That girl is looking at you, Master.”

“She’s just looking at me. It’s not like she’s doing anything bad.”

“No, she has bad intention. I can sense it.”

“Is that so? Then let’s talk it out.”

“What do you mean, Mas…”

Before she was even able to finish her words, I grabbed her by her waist and used my ability, Blink and ‘blinked’ myself and Zenith behind Yumiko. What was Blink, again? It’s basically a type of Space Manipulation. Blink basically teleports anything I wish to wherever I please. But there is a limit to what I can do with this ability. For now, I can only Blink for as long as about 500 metre. But I’m not going to Blink as far as that because that will deplete a lot of my energy.

“My, my…I didn’t call you here but yet here you are teleporting behind me without any warning.” Yumiko talked while still looking down over the roof.

“Yumiko…” I made a quiet grumble as I said that.

“You know, White…it reminds me of the time when we first met a month ago. That goes the same to the little one over there.”

-

I remember alright. I remember that day. After I was done putting up my stuff in my room, my parent gave me some money and left. I decided to go and get some lunch until suddenly; a blond girl seems to be lost. She was looking all over the place while holding onto a map. I tried to avoid her, of course. I’m not the type to be helping out someone that I don’t know. But even as tried to do so…

“Excuse me! Can you uh…help me?” The blond girl called me. “I need some help on where to go…”

I sighed and turned to her and said, “I don’t really know the place around here. I’m a first year and I just got here.” And then I turned myself back away from her.

“Hmm…you could at least say sorry…stupid.” The girl was getting riled up.

In my own defence, I was not in the mood to talk to anyone. Hence, I was a bit rude to her. I wasn’t like that usually. But I just happened to be rude to this one specific girl.

“I’m…uh…sorry about that, miss.” I answered to her quickly hoping that it doesn’t get worse.

But that was not exactly what happened, of course. The girl immediately dropped one of her luggage to the floor.

“You… Got to be kidding me. What kind of ‘sorry’ was that, huh?” she looked at me with sharp eyes.

I really hate this kind of people, the kind to get angry over the littlest thing. But for some reason, I can tell that she’s not really genuinely angry. I don’t understand what was she trying to do. At the same time another girl appeared and tried to stop the fight,

“Master…Get away from her…” the girl that I met a few hours earlier followed me from afar.

“What? What are you doing here? Were you following me?” I turned to the silver haired girl.

“Hey!” the blondie got crankier, “Don’t ignore me you scum. Who do you think you are to be disrespectful to me? Don’t you know who am I?”

I turned back to her and said, “Do I look I care…I said I don’t know the place and that’s my final answer for today. Can’t you just move on and find someone else to ask for location?”

I turned back to the silver haired girl but then the little girl expression changed from being cautious to panic. She ran toward me. I didn’t know what happened at first but once she gets near to me, she went around me and shielded my back. And then…I heard a gunshot.

Yes. This was the first murder of Zenith by yours truly, Yumiko. The Fallen Trinity. She was trying to shoot at me but instead, Zenith was the one who sacrificed her life. I didn’t know her back then but all I know was that someone just killed a person and that was absolutely wrong.

I looked down as blood started to drop to the ground next to the little girl body. I grit my teeth and tightly closed my hands. Without thinking much, I brought out my dagger and flew my way toward Yumiko with the help of my Wind Manipulation. I tried to hurt her but she blocked my dagger with her flintlock.

She then spoke to me, “You can do better than that, ‘Master’”

“What? You too?”

“Huh? Me? Of course not. You’re not my master or anything. I was just calling you the same way as that little girl called you. Isn’t that how you preferred to be called, ‘Master’?”

She then brought out another flintlock on her other hand and pulled its trigger. I managed to jump away in the nick of time before any of her bullets hit my flesh.

“Huh. I guess you’re not going to go all out against yours truly. But I’m warning you. I’m not going to give you an easy fight.”

She pulled the trigger on one of her flintlock. The bullet missed me but it was intentional as the bullet she made turned into a particle that absorbs anything it touches. It was a mini black hole. I tried to hold on to my position but then Yumiko pulled another trigger and this time the bullet exploded as it intentionally missed me and went next to me. My focus was away and I was sucked off by the mini black hole.

I threw my dagger as strong as I could and it stuck on a tree nearby. I actually already made a rope out of wind and it was tied to my dagger. So, I tried to pull myself away out of the mini black hole. But then Yumiko cuts down the rope with her bullet she calls, Cut Bullet where it can used to cut anything it passes through.

Almost all of my body were inside the black hole as Yumiko begins to wickedly smile. It was at that moment where I had enough of this and decided to pull my own ‘trigger’. Even so, I struggled it all but in the end…the black hole sucked me. Leaving nothing behind that belongs to my body.

“What a disappointment.” Yumiko puts down her gun. “Isn’t he the one who ate the crystal of The King of Dragons? This was his limits? I’m disappointed in you, Master. You fear of this boy? I just killed him. I can’t believe you were so afraid of such an idiot like that boy, Master. Aren’t you supposed to be the fourth Champions of Chaos, Master Kitsuneki?”

Then suddenly, the black hole returned and two hands appeared out of it. Ripping apart and nullifying the black hole. I got out of the black hole just in time. Yumiko shoots out a barrage of live bullets but as it about to reach my face, it stopped. Stopped because of my time stopping ability. I paused all of her bullets from moving. Yumiko then shoots out an explosive bullet to me. The bullet exploded but its impact was paused right before it was able to hit me at all. Yumiko begins to break a sweat.

I ‘Blinked’ to her back and slowly but surely raised my hand. Yumiko begins to feel fear when suddenly a loud smacking sound was heard across the area. I slapped her face and dropped both of her flintlocks to the floor. The battle was over…for now at least…

-

“It must be satisfying to slap me in the face and see me being forced to become your Watcher. I’ll tell you one thing though. This time, I won’t hesitate.”

As she finishes her sentences, a violet, humanoid looking aura appeared next to her. It slowly takes form and turned into a…human…

“What seems to be the problem over here, my dearest sister?”

TO BE CONTINUED