"Hey, Ayuki. Why do you always sit weird when you're in deep thought?" "Weird? I just feel comfortable sitting like this. It helps me to focus and ignore distracting things...like your hair!" "Haha, stop joking about my hair..." Ayuki opened her eyes realizing it was another dream of the past. This dream was a bit vague. It seemed to be about a conversation with another girl, a friend perhaps? She wasn't sure although it certainly wasn't a useful memory. Ravendell will be so pleased to hear this one... It was the first night Ayuki spend in her new residence The Center Borrow, an apartment shared by at least a hundred people. Although a bit on the smaller side, there was enough room for another person to live in here. Living alone seemed familiar to her, but it was an odd feeling to have since she had no way to tell whether that was true. Despite the lack of useful memories, just having yet another one in such a short amount of time was nonetheless reassuring. She tried to sit similarly as she did in her dream, putting her legs in a crossed position and her right hand in a fist with the thumb slightly in her mouth. So this helps me to concentrate? Thinking back on what happened yesterday, Ravendell arranged something in the Outer City Park at ten o'clock. Since it wasn't something outside the city this time, she felt at least more safe from trouble. Let's hope Ravendell knows what he's doing. Judgment test aside, he deserves at least a little bit of trust. She walked outside on her way to the Outer City Park. It wasn't really a big park, there wasn't even anyone there. With still five minutes left, she decided to sit down at the nearest bench she could find, waiting for the right moment. "Yo!" Someone spoke directly behind Ayuki's back, causing her to scream from shock. "Haha, sorry didn't want to scare you. You must be Yona Ayuki?" "Hah...yes—" She watched behind now, looking the man in his eyes that just frightened her. He had a tough appearance with his muscular build like that of a professional athlete player and a scar on his left cheek. "Great, I'm Dedroy, but for you, it will be Hyu Dedroy, cuz starting from today I'll be your trainer." "Uhm...trainer?" "That's right. According to Hyo Ravendell, you came to this city in order to learn the ways of Fes, right?" Ayuki was confused by the things he just said, but his last spoken words sparked her interest. "You mean magic? You're here to train me in magic?" she said in a slightly exciting manner. "Depends, whether or not you're able to do it." The ability to use magic did intrigue Ayuki ever since she saw Ellyia performing it. Whether she could do it still remained another issue. Ravendell must have arranged this in order to assess my possible Fes abilities, one of my conditions in order to be trusted. "Yes, please. I wanna know more if possible." Sparkles were almost radiating from her eyes. Dedroy smiled. "Excited are we? That's good, I like energetic students. So, what do you know so far?" "Hmm...that Fes is an energy created by the nature that we can use for magic. Oh, and you have direct and indirect Fes that you can learn." "Not bad," Dedroy said, making a small nod in agreement. "Let's see, in order to use magic you need an energy source and an object to process all that energy. Our body naturally reacts to it and is able to convert it completely, allowing us to produce magic through our body." Ayuki noticed the interesting hand movements he kept making while he continued his explanation. "Now when it comes down to magic, it can either develop in or outside the body. The use of Fes inside the body can be used for improving existing functionalities such as eyesight or creating new ones such as night vision. The use of Fes outside the body can be used for manipulating existing elements like moving water or by creating elements such as making ice appear. Get the picture so far?" "Yeah." "Good. Now although it is possible to learn any ability, you can't learn all abilities as effectively. Not only is this due to the direct and indirect Fes learning, but also because of the different types of Fes users we have. Generally, every person that can use Fes belongs to a certain Fes type. Which type you are will determine which kind of abilities you can learn the best. Learning an ability that doesn't belong to your type can almost be considered useless." Listening further to Dedroy's explanation, Ayuki imagined a diagram in her head based on the four different Fes types that he mentioned. Fes type Development Fes usage Ability example Enhancer Inside the body Adjust an existing skill A better eyesight Attainer Inside the body Create a new skill Using night vision Manipulator Outside the body Manipulate an existing element Move water Materializer Outside the body Create a new element Create ice "My ability is the creation of ice elements which means I'm a materializer," Dedroy said. "The kind of magic you can emit is different for every person. In my case it's ice, and to know what kind of magic you can use is what we are going to find out." "Cool, so what are we supposed to do?" "Well, I heard you don't have any memories from your past so we are going to rely on something rather uncommon, a series of tests. The goal is to see what Fes type you belong to. We'll start with an easy one, a challenge test." "Challenge test?" "For the upcoming five minutes, you'll be focusing on only one objective." Ayuki looked at the ground where Dedroy was pointing at. "You need to stand in this circle." It was barely big enough for one person to stand in. With a calm attitude, she started walking towards the circle. "That's it? How come I need five minutes for this?" When she came close, Dedroy started blocking her way. "Why—" Dedroy followed her position while still blocking her path to the circle. "Are you— standing in my way?" "I never said it will be easy. You'll be needing those five minutes. The rules are simple you can use any means necessary to stand in that circle". "Any means necessary? So you're saying you'll stop me no matter what?" "That's right! Give me your best shot." Dedroy said with full confidence. You asked for it. She started fast and tried pushing him away with her left arm, but he grabbed it and easily knocked her away, making her fall on the ground. That made her slightly more angry as she tried to kick in his stomach with her knee though it got blocked while she found herself on the ground again. "Ugh...change of plans," Ayuki said while trying her next tactic. She took some distance and attempted a faster kick. It failed with the same result so she executed the next idea, circling around him in one direction and quickly change course while dashing in. Since that didn't work out either, she eventually decided to grab some rocks off the ground to throw at him. He simply dodged it or brushed it away with his hands. This guy is really tough. I need a better strategy. She was now sitting in her thinking position while planning out her next move. A minute had passed now. Ayuki decided not to waste any more of it, stood up and initiated her next plan. She threw some quick punches and went for a low kick. The kick was easily blocked, but because of her current low position she was able to grab the sand on the floor and threw it at his face. Dedroy winced, some of the sand definitely went into his eyes as he closed them. Ayuki took the chance and tried to get past him. The moment she approached the circle very closely, Dedroy blocked her entrance completely by sitting on the circle. "Agh! That's not fair!" she said, not having expected him to do something like that. "Haha, you gave me no choice. Okay, time for level two." "Uhm, level two?" Dedroy stood up again. "Prepare yourself and behold." Ice crystals started to form around him in a circle while it all remained floating in the air. As more ice crystals appeared, Ayuki moved back so that it wouldn't hit her. "Cool..." she said in amazement, a bit jealous of not being able to do it herself. "Let's see if you can pass through this. You have three minutes left!" The floating ice crystals started circling around him while the speed kept increasing. Ayuki slowly approached it and reached her hand out to see how hard it would hit her. An ice crystal instantly smacked her hand, creating a loud crashing sound. "Ouch! What the hell, are you crazy?! Do you expect me to dive in?!" "Let me give you a tip!" Dedroy said out loud. The circulating ice crystals kept interrupting his voice slightly, making it more difficult for Ayuki to hear him. "Focus only on your objective and what you are feeling! Many people explained the use of magic as a tingling feeling on the place where the magic will be emitted! For me, it's the hands! How about you?! Do you feel anything?!" "Feel anything..." Ah. My eyes? Am I supposed to see something?— Dedroy felt a little bit guilty towards Ayuki. The first test was supposed to be easy, but here he was already using magic against her. If he isn't careful enough, he might severely hurt her in the process. To Dedroy's surprise though, Ayuki took a big distance and started running towards him. "Eh? A-Ayuki you should stop!" he shouted, but she still kept running. Her eyes stared deep into Dedroy's eyes. He noticed that the Fes had developed in her eyes, making her dark brown iris now completely white colored. Ayuki, now very near Dedroy, jumped with her legs pulled up and her arms crossed in front of her. Crap, she's not listening! He immediately stopped using his Fes. The ice vaporized within a second, just before Ayuki went through. She made a roll on the ground and barely managed to stay in a crouched position. Ayuki stood up now. There she was, standing in the circle. "I-I made it! Yes, I did it! How's that?" She said. Dedroy couldn't believe what just happened. The amount of reckless she just displayed didn't make sense. "You...really did it. Congratulations you just used Fes for your first time." "Eh? Did I? How? What did I do?" Ayuki asked. "I have no clue! But I saw the Fes in your eyes. I'm just not sure if you did something. Tell me though, why did you suddenly decided to run!? That was crazy. You could have easily hurt yourself." "Hmm, I'm not sure actually...but to be honest, I felt like you wouldn't be the kind that would want to hurt me." "Well that's true I wasn't planning— Wait...that's it? Nothing more?" "Yup!" "Wauw, that's—" An alarm started to ring and interrupted their conversation. "DARK NATURE ALERT! DARK NATURE ALERT!" It echoed loudly through the whole city in the same way the alarm in the beginning did. "No, not now! For Yeon's sake!" Dedroy said, fully annoyed by the alarm. "What's happening?" "Another Dark nature attack. What? Never heard of it before?" "N-no." "Seriously? Why do you think we're protected by the strongest magical barrier there is?" Ayuki looked up at the magical barrier now. Something of a dark mist far in the distance was approaching. That day it became clear to her what was happening, the situation she's in, the reason why everything outside looked so destroyed at that time. The people here are trying to survive...a world destruction.