The moment you set your sight on your enemy, your battle has already begun.

Always remember that every movement, every attack and every tactic has its roots in which it was perfected from.

Hone your six senses and feel your enemy even from afar.

Observe your opponent from the moment of the first strike, and find the traces that will lead to the origins of his techniques.

Find it, and exploit every single weakness that you see.

A battle of attrition always comes down to whoever is steps ahead of his enemy.

***

The sun was high up in the sky, the heat seared through my skin.

There were twenty-five of us outside on the boot camp, standing still under the scorching midday sun. Our bodies already covered with sweat, our knees began to shake due to exhaustion as we stood on the spot for over three hours now. We were already on the verge of collapse after that rigorous training regimen which we were just subjected into, but it seemed that our suffering will not end soon.

And the prying eyes that continued to spy us from afar did not help.

The drill instructor was quite a stiff one, he does not condone any failures and would not hesitate to humiliate anyone who fails at every exercise on the field. We learned that the hard way on the first three weeks of our training exercises, where we were bombarded with insults after we screwed up the regimen. It went so far that some of us went into a deep state of depression, others even considering just backing down from the challenge.

The first four days of the week were spent on painstaking body training. Jumping jacks, pushups, a full marathon, and a deep underwater session. It lasts for about half a day, and we finish the routine by a four-hour standstill. Anyone who were left behind during the session would repeat the whole routine again at the latter half of the day as punishment, and that gave us the unnecessary motivation to finish the entirety of it.

We spent the next two days on the simulation pods, where we were taught via virtual reality almost all fighting techniques and war stratagems that mankind has made and perfected. They utilized the CAESAR Learning Module, an organic computer network that was directly connected to us through the Cerebrum Signal Translator Helmet. Using the eyes as a direct link to the cerebrum, information is sent through a misteria beam through one eye, which also temporarily reprograms the optical nerves for connection, and then using another beam from the other eye, it reads the user’s response to the stimulus given by the system.

Unlike conventional lasers, which could only send a limited rate of information per second before needing to amplify the light and potentially burning right through the eyes, misteria beams are, while still was on its developmental phase, had the capability of delivering data directly through the optical nerves with far greater results and less risks.

Every session at the CLM was always a surreal experience. Because the emulation was nearly close to that of what the normal five senses deliver every day, the instances inside the virtual reality were almost close to real life. Time inside the VR went fast, five seconds passing in real-time felt to over an hour inside, the reason being that the path of the stimuli sent to the brain and back were short enough for a fast transmission to occur, and the users’ brains instinctively try to match the Module’s clock speed as it poured gigabytes upon gigabytes of information of data through the eyes.

The simulations varied greatly from one lesson to the other, showcasing the evolution of human civilization in each session. Emulating the possible scenarios in which a certain fighting technique or tactic originated from, we started from the very beginning where ancient people just started to use spears and arrows as hunting and self-defense tools, all the way to ancient Greece, where the art of war was almost perfected by the Spartans, and finally to the modern warfare era where guns and other projectile-based weaponry reigned supreme.

Although the CLM was a very effective teaching tool, it also had its drawbacks. For one, it consumed so much power that only a misteria energy generator could power it to its maximum, not even a full powered nuclear fusion power plant could supply even a quarter of its normal functions. The other drawback that it had was the fact that it puts too much stress on the user’s brain. Sometimes the human brain could not fully handle all the data poured in by the Module, resulting in an information bottleneck and eventually ending up in a harmonious dissonance which could prove fatal. Because of this, the engineers installed a data transfer limiter to the system to prevent the dissonance from happening.

Sunday was the only day in which we get some actual rest. There, we did what we could to relax. Some of us just slept the whole day off, while others did other things, like playing games and taking a stroll outside the compound.

As for me, I spent it on a secret place that I found while exploring the area, a small hill with a single tree on top of it. It was my only reminder of that encounter with someone that I cherish so much, that fateful night a long time ago. Under the shade of the tree I always reevaluated my life, thinking of what my purpose was on being there in the first place. The boot camp was taxing my body and soul, but for some reason, I still go on. I always fall asleep under the tree, deep in thought, then wake up later in the evening to go back to the camp.

The regimen went on for almost two years, with slight variations along the way. The last day of each month was always dedicated to a general evaluation test, where we were examined from head to toe for physical changes, and a mock battle with our drill instructor to test our current skills. He was a very tough opponent to deal with, not pulling any punches on us because of our advantage in misteria ability.

Over time, we felt the gradual change not only in our physique, but also to our mentality and battle ability. Our movements were far lighter and flexible than when we first arrived there, and more importantly, our five senses were heightened significantly, particularly in sight. It even went to the point where we could calculate the probability of our opponent’s next move in mere seconds, as if we were predicting multiple parallel timelines all at once. Soon enough, even our drill instructor could not keep up with our abilities, and at the end of our second year, he congratulated us for finishing the boot camp.

Seeing an army truck waiting for us on our way out, we knew that our time had come.

…

…

Once again, the hell known as war ravaged the world, leaving only death and destruction in its wake.

***

“Ms. Margaret, evacuate the whole arena! I don’t want anyone but soldiers in the vicinity, you hear me!?” Julius ordered the assistant with a commanding tone as he summoned his Astral Gear, a long spear with a cross-shaped tip.

Without any delays, she ran inside the Coliseum and ordered every soldier that she found to evacuate the whole arena. Like the Emissary, she felt that something big would happen in there that would be dangerous to anyone still inside. The remaining soldiers, on the other hand, hastily carried out the order given to them, telling the people on the podiums to get out immediately, with some being forced to do so.

On the other side, though, Tsukihime and Ren watched on, their eyes fixated on Noire as winds began to pick up and blew towards the boy, like a forming tornado. The girl in particular observed the phenomenon in fear, as she could see the misteria accumulate along with the wind and towards the greatsword which the boy held in his right hand. The five streams of misteria runes emerged from the glove once again, just like what she saw at his awakening, although that time they glowed a reddish orange light instead of the blue ones from before.

“O Gawain, bend the laws that binds weapon’s power and let it join our cause!”

As soon as he finished saying the phrase, the ribbons of runes retracted back to the gauntlet, which in turn made it emit more light than before. A devastated Plio could only watch as his Astral Gear’s Binding Lock appeared before him, and finally be broken down and reformed into the boy’s own.

“Wha----what is this power!? This…this is…this is impossible!! No one can break a Binding Lock, NO ONE!!!!” he screamed at the boy, still in denial of what he already was seeing.

Repositioning himself at an attack stance, Noire pointed his newly acquired sword towards Plio, looking at him with eyes like an eagle that has locked on to its prey.

“Si vi pacem, para bellum. I believe you don’t know what I just said, do you?” he asked the magistrate, which answered him with a no headshake.

Flames then formed around him, particularly coming from the sword and the gauntlet. Noire took one step, readying himself for his last attack.

A piece of memory suddenly flashed on Tsukihime’s mind, it was at that time of their last meeting before he had to leave her due to the Army’s orders on the Institute.

“If you want peace…” she whispered, unintentionally walking towards Noire with her outstretched right hand, and Ren swiftly taking action and stopping her from her tracks before the girl gets hurt.

“Prepare for war,” Noire spoke, misteria continued to flow around him, to the point where even a normal person’s eye could see its light-bending effect.

What followed next was so sudden, Plio could not even react in time.

Noire dashed towards him with his former sword in tow, with large tongues of flames trailing behind the boy.

Step Three: Overwhelm.

After stopping at a distance near Plio, Noire swung the sword vertically, the tip of the blade coming from the back, intending to strike down the magistrate from the head.

Time seemed to slow down in Plio’s perspective, his focus entirely on the incoming attack from the sword which was once his. Its steel was now imbued with flames dancing with the wind and giving it a bright orange color. He could feel its intense heat incoming as it drew nearer towards him, as if the sun was coming down from the heavens. The magistrate could not react at all, petrified at what seemed to be his inevitable demise. Eyes were locked at the sword, his arms would not even flinch, even if his brain tried its hardest to make them move and defend himself.

Apparently accepting his fate, Plio closed his eyes in defeat.

Margaret, just finished with the evacuation, quickly ascended the flight of stairs after seeing Tsukihime and Ren. She was about to grab them when she saw the boy doing his last attack on Plio. She was too far away to protect her master in time, but she tried anyway.

In the nick of time, though, Julius had put himself between the two, his spear fully armed and ready. A clash of weapons seemingly took place, the shockwaves travelled through the air around them and blowing away all the dust that remained inside. With the cloud of dust covering the end scene, the remaining spectators covered their eyes and mouth as to not ingest any particles that scattered all around them.

As the dust slowly settled, the three could see the outlines of the combatants.

The blade of the greatsword barely touched both Julius and Plio’s heads, Noire apparently had trouble finishing the attack. The flow of misteria went back to normal, with the flames disappearing from sight.

Everything went quiet for a while as most of the spectators have already been evacuated from the premises. One could almost hear the heartbeat of the other, along with the breeze that blew gently from the outside.

***

"What do you think, Sir?" a man quietly whispered to his companion, an elderly, as they observed the events that unfolded from a secret corridor at the topmost podiums.

The elderly got his eyes off the binoculars, wiping the lenses with a piece of cloth.

"His mere entrance had already disrupted the flow of this place. I think he is the one."

"The one who'll release us from the binds of the Empire?" the man asked quietly, containing his excitement.

"Maybe," the elderly answered.

"We can't be certain, though. We need to thoroughly know just who this person is."

The man let out a sigh, making the elder tap his shoulder to assure him.

"Do not fret, for I have a plan. If this boy is on our side, then our victory is sealed."

***

Noire, Julius and Plio stayed at the center of the arena, not one of them even moved a bit from where they were standing. The boy then began to feel the strain of holding the weight of the sword, and so he removed it from above their heads and struck it on the ground. Likewise, Julius also disarmed himself, showing a mutual understanding between the two.

"I've got to admit, you're prettly powerful. As the Emissary of the Eighth Cardinal Saint, I concede this battle in Plio's place," Julius spoke, his voice filled the empty arena.

"A deal is a deal. I'll order the release of the remaining prisoners."

"Oh, thank goodness," Noire suddenly sighed as he sat down on the dusty Coliseum floor.

"I really hoped that you're going to be a sensible man. I really do not want to go further into this fight, to be honest. My muscles are still kind of stiff, you know."

Hearing the boy's complaint, Julius could not help but to burst into laughter.

"Is that so, is that so. Ha ha. I could not imagine how bloody it would be if I haven't interfered," the emissary said.

Noire then stood up, grabbed the sword by his right hand and dismantled it in front of them, silenty announcing that the weapon is now his.

"There's only one problem, though," the emissary spoke again, this time in a serious tone.

"I can't let you loose after what you've done here today. This might be a sanctioned fight, but you still broke several rules beforehand."

Julius expected that the boy would resist the arrest, but to his surprise, Noire stayed in his place as the soldiers went towards him, even going as far as removing his gauntlet and laying it down on the ground.

"You really never cease to amaze me, boy," he praised Noire as he got ahold of the Gawain and took a quick look into it.

The soldiers put a chain and shackle restraints on the boy, which still did not mind anything that was happening to him. As soon as the shackles snapped in place, Noire felt something strange happening inside him, something like a draining water sink. Because of this, he could not feel the misteria's flow no longer.

"I just have one wish before you lock me out," Noire said to the magistrate.

"Let me give my weapon to that girl over there. Do not worry, like you, I'm also a man of my word."

After thinking about it for a while, he consented, returning the gauntlet to Noire as they began their trip on the main holding cells just a few blocks away from there.

Seeing that Tsukihime was weeping even more than the last time, he lifted his hands to wipe out the tears. Noire then put the gauntlet in her bosom, completely entrusting her with its safekeeping.

"I'll be back later, my dear. Wait for me until then," he whispered to her.

Receiving the gauntlet, Tsukihime watched them take Noire out of the Coliseum. She did not feel any worry, the words of the boy eased her a bit. After seeing him off, she then rejoined Arthur and Ren as they also left the arena, now relieved that they survived the ordeals that had come in their way of life.