The students grew ever more exited. Anticipation to see who was first, they awaited their Headmaster’s words. However, while the Headmaster said he was following the registry list, he actually had a little idea.

“Mr Hikaru Arakan. Why don’t we start with you?”,

He said, as he pointed to the boy.

“Huh? Really!?”,

Hikaru asked in both shock and surprise as he stood up.

“Since you were last, you’ll Connect first. You can be the guinea pig of the school today”,

“Alright!”,

He shouted back, rushing from his seat, and shuttling to the bottom. Arthur and Belle were left confused as to why he was so happy after hearing those words.

(He just said you were a guinea pig, Hikaru. Don’t look so happy damn it!),

Arthur thought to himself.

When Hikaru got to the bottom of the stairs, the Headmaster began giving him instructions.

“Jump onto the slab and stand in the centre please, by the chair”,

“Sure”,

Hikaru climbed a small ladder to get up onto it. He walked to the centre, like instructed, stood by the chair, looking deeply at it, and awaited further orders.

Headmaster Orlands then turned around to look at Aliza.

“Miss Hyuga. Would you be willing to do one last teaching session? For old times’ sake?”,

She smiled and stood.

“Of course, sir, it’d be my honour”,

The Headmaster walked back to his seat, while Aliza walked around the desk and made her way towards Hikaru. After standing a single metre away from him, she began her lesson. While her words would be directed at the boy in front of her, the students behind him would also be the ones learning.

“Mr Arakan, right?”,

“Yes ma’am!”,

“Do you know how to begin your Connection?”,

“Nope!”,

Aliza sighed internally.

(Just like someone I know. Don’t skip your classes students),

While she said this to herself, inside her mind, she did have the urge to say it aloud.

“Alright. First, take out your Link”,

“My… Link? Oh, right yeah!”,

Hikaru reached into the back of his neck and slowly pulled out a wire. The wire itself appeared to be installed under the skin, right next to a circular body modification.

“This right?”,

Hikaru asked showing it to Aliza.

“Yes. Now, do you have you’re A.I. Block?”,

“I do. My father bought it for me a while ago…”,

He replied as he reached into one of his jacket pockets and took out a small box.

Hikaru opened the box slowly. The inside was covered in padding, protecting a small disk-shaped item inside.

The disk was no bigger than 40 centimetres in diameter. It reflected a pure silvery colour as the light from the gym’s hanging lighting hit it. Hikaru, unlike his usual attitude, picked up the disk-shaped item with care and caution.

As he raised it from inside the box, he looked at Aliza while handing it over to her. Aliza, just as careful as Hikaru, took the item and turned around.

Next to the chair, was a machine. It didn’t look like anything seen before. It was highly futuristic in nature, even more so than the computers and electrical equipment used in that day and age. It had a matte black look to it but there were some flickering lights and tiny screens flashing, dotted all around it. It had a plain surface area with no protruding edges and yet you could see buttons all around it.

It was cubed in shape, being 3 metres in height, 1 metre in both width and length. There were some grey and red cabling running from it, towards the back of the chair next to it.

She approached the said machine and pressed two buttons in front of her. As she raised her finger after pressing the second button, a small tray, like a disk drive, emerged from the left of said buttons.

The drive was larger than the disk Aliza held in her hand, but to Hikaru’s surprise, when she placed the disk in it, it didn’t fall from the whole in the middle of the tray, but instead, it hovered while making a small electrical humming noise.

Aliza pressed the two buttons she previously pressed, only in reverse order, and the drive slid back into the weird machine.

A giant holographic screen then appeared to her front, about the size of 21 inches. The hologram was a simple blue colour and only a single word emerged from it.

[START]

Aliza smiled and then turned around, facing Hikaru.

“Take a seat”,

She said as she waved her hand slightly towards the chair on her right.

Hikaru looked down at the chair.

Much like the machine next to it, the chair looked much more advanced than the technology released to the public. It resembled a lounge chair, having its chassis and frame white coloured and made from metal, while the padding where the person lays down, was red coloured and made from some comfortable looking fabric.

There was a headrest and only one arm rest, for the left arm. Speaking of which, at the headrest, were a few cables dangling down with plug like connectors at the end of each cable.

The armrest appeared to have 2 small screens currently displaying the same [START] logo as the machine.

Hikaru stared at it for a few more seconds before finally staking a seat.

He laid down, surprised at how comfortable it was. Aliza walked to his side, pressing down his head gently, making sure he was fully laid back.

She then reached the cables near his head, from the headrest, with her left hand, while her right opened into an open palm.

“Your Link?”,

Hikaru raised the cable he still held in his hand and gave it to the woman.

Aliza then proceeded to plug said wires into eachother, before slowly lowering them down just behind the headrest. She adjusted them, making sure it was nice and stable before stepping back and walking to the chair’s left side, near its armrest.

Aliza proceeded to make sure Hikaru’s arm was nice and flat, perfectly placed along the armrest. Upon confirming this, she turned to him and gave him a smile.

“W—What?”,

Hikaru asked suddenly having doubts about being a guinea pig.

“This is going to hurt, a lot”,

Aliza commented still with her smile,

“R--Really?”

Hikaru asked as his doubts grew bigger and bigger.

“Are you ready?”,

Aliza asked, now with even a larger smile.

Hikaru simply shook his head as hard as he could while a tear of sweat ran down his head.

“Oh, you’ll be fine!”,

Aliza responded as she pressed on the [START] logo on one of the screens.

Vigorously, electrical currents suddenly ran from the machine, through the cabling on the chair, all the way to Hikaru’s neck.

He stiffened up as his natural reflexes commanded him, but his mind was somewhere else completely.

While his body froze in place and refused to move no matter what, currently running through his mind were hundreds of thousands of images and a million sounds. Imagery and sound so blurred or distorted it was impossible to discern with the naked eye, but to Hikaru, they all made sense.

The pain began to grow and grow even more, to the point Hikaru began groaning. But just as quickly as he did, he suddenly collapsed. His eyes closed and his head naturally slumped to one side, while his body became limp.

All the students gasped as their mouths burst open and their eyes grew wide, in both surprise and confusion. Arthur was one of the very few there who didn’t seem to show any emotion.

Aliza had taught him a long time ago as to what needs to happen for someone to be able to connect to an A.I.

So, he began doing another thing Aliza taught him.

“1…2…3…4…5...-“,

Belle became confused as to why he was counting, but seeing the concentration on his face, she didn’t want to interrupt. She was far more preoccupied with what happened. Hikaru suddenly collapsed.

Aliza kept her eyes fixated on the centre of the stage. She too was counting the seconds.

The machine began whining and displaying all kinds of letters and symbols on the holographic screen. What was shocking however, was that the students recognised none of them. They were not letters and symbols used by humans, much less by civilization.

“We’ve passed 10”,

One of the teachers sat down, called out.

“…20”,

Aliza kept staring. Belle turned to Arthur and asked with worry in her voice.

“Hey Arthur? Do you think something happened?”,

“Don’t worry. You can’t die in Mother’s Soul. All this means is, the longer a person is trapped in there, the stronger the Connection they will be able to make to their A.I.”,

“Yeah, but, if it goes over 2 minutes, doesn’t it mean-“,

“Yeah. He’ll fail”,

“30 seconds!”,

The teacher called out again.

Time passed and some students started to worry. Hikaru had now been gone for a whole minute. However, Aliza’s eyes suddenly grew.

“Here he comes”,

She said out loud. This grabbed everyone’s attention.

The screen which only previously showed symbols and letters now had turned to a black background with a single white dot at their very centre.

Aliza stared deeply at it before reaching to the machine and pressing a button.

The white dot dispersed but now something else was happening. The chair Hikaru laid on began making sound. It was like a motor powering up. The cables attached to Hikaru’s neck suddenly began to vibrate, and in a whip of a second, Hikaru sprang to life.

However this wasn’t what the students were paying attention to. In fact, they all appeared to collectively look in one single direction, and that was, just behind Hikaru.

“Miss Urlaseal?”,

Aliza called her name as she looked towards one of the teachers sat down.

“67 seconds”,

After hearing her response, Aliza approached Hikaru. She raised her right hand and tapped him on the forehead. When she did this, Hikaru’s senses appeared to return to him and he finally gathered a sense of self to speak.

Stares of some students and teachers aimed at him with great intent. However, unlike one might expect after what happened, Hikaru grew a giant smile as he shouted.

“I’M BA~CK!!!”,

The students got over their shock and giant cheers span the room. People got up as they cheered and cried at the amazing spectacle they just saw. Not only that either, but they were also happy to see their friend back.

“Hikaru! You mad lad!”,

“Well done Hikaru!”,

“That was awesome man!”,

Cheers and comments from his fellow students span the room. The teachers had smiling faces to see their student succeed.

…

This is what Hikaru expected to happen, but sadly for him this was not reality.

Instead, silence still filled the room, as now everyone fully concentrated on the being standing directly behind him.

Aliza then spoke,

“Hikaru, how do you feel?”,

“Huh? Wait, you’re all still here?”,

“Yes”,

“But I was gone for like…”,

Hikaru began counting with his fingers. However, Aliza answered for him.

“6 months”,

A shocking look took his face and even the students, when they heard her answer, became shocked and confused. Taking notice of this, Aliza explained.

“In Mother’s Soul, for every 10 seconds in the real world, you will pass 1 month inside”,

Surprise took the student’s faces.

“He was in there 6 moths?”,

Belle whispered to herself.

The attention focused back onto Hikaru and Aliza who had now stepped away from him.

“So, Mr Arakan. Do you wish to see you’re A.I. now?”,

Gleam and joy raised in his heart, and he nodded violently in excitement.

“Well then. Simply stand up and turn around”,

Aliza informed him.

Hikaru stood up as instructed. As he did, his Link came undone from the wiring on the chair and wound itself back into the back of his neck. As he stood on his own two feet, he slowly turned a full 180. There is no better word to describe what he felt in that split second than that of, bewilderment.

What laid before everyone’s eyes but mainly his, was a massive and majestic figure. It stood at 8 feet tall and had a humanoid shape. The whole body of the was made from pure gold. Instead of a human head, the head of a hawk took its place. But the most impressive things, were not the main body, it was the things sprouting from it.

From its back, large wings span out. Made from silver sheets, stacked together and shaped like feathers. They had a most beautiful look, especially with the light shining not only on them, but the whole being.

While Aliza was impressed, she kept her calm and cool figure.

“Generation VI, Divine Archetype. Humanoid Class. Light and Lightning Attributes. Does that seem about right to you, Miss Urlaseal?”,

She asked as she looked back.

“Yes Aliza. From the size of it, I’d say the Spirit is about 250 years old. And since Light and Lightning look like its Attributes, I should be quite effective at both muscle control and wound healing”,

“Hmm… Hikaru!”,

“Yes ma’am!”,

He shouted and turned, once again bringing his senses back to reality.

“Congratulations. You are now the owner of a 3rd rarest A.I. Archetype”,

“3rd!?”,

Hikaru shouted uncontrollably.

“By the way, have you christened it yet?”,

“Christen it?”,

“Unless you’re A.I. gave you its name, you’ll have to give it its own”,

“Hmm… well he never gave me one… so…”,

He thought for a bit, but it didn’t take him long. He smiled greatly and turned to the Being still standing behind him.

“Hariel!”,

As if to accept its new name, the being knelt on one knee and bowed his head. This surprised not only Hikaru but everyone else as well. All Hikaru could do was hold all of his excitement from exploding all at once.

“By the way, why Hariel?”,

Asked Aliza,

“Ahh. Well, my grandparents are religious. She believes in a created golden angel called Hariel, The Crying Angel. Just seemed perfect, to be honest”,

He replied,

“As good as a reason as any. Well done on making a Connection Mr. Arakan. It was indeed well done”,

“Thank yo- Huh?”,

Hikaru’s attention was averted towards Hariel. Aliza knew the A.I. was talking to him due to the static noise it made.

“I don’t think that’s appropriate, Hariel.

[STATIC]

“Listen, it’s you’re first time here in our world, right?”,

[STATIC]

“Then we’ll do it later!”,

“STATIC]

“How about coffee? Lasagne? Hell, even games and sports. Any of those sound interesting?”,

Aliza, becoming interested in the conversation, approached Hikaru to ask him about it.

“What does he want?”,

“He’s asking for a fight”,

When the students heard his reply, they immediately stood up, as if to leave the room. The Headmaster however took control of the situation. He simply raised his hand, enough to calm everyone down. He then stood up and approached the duo standing on the slab.

“Miss Hyuga, perhaps a show of power can be quite encouraging to the lot of them”,

“Sir, my A.I. isn’t exactly… controllable in a fight”,

Aliza told him with worry for the student’s safety.

“You needn’t worry. Miss Urlaseal can take care of that. Urlaseal!”,

The teacher stood up from her chair,

“Yes Headmaster?”,

“Can you have Tanka create a barrier around the two, enough to protect the students from any harm?”,

“Yes Headmaster”,

“Good. It’s settled then”,

The Headmaster walked closer to the students currently uneasy about the turn of events.

“All of you will now experience combat between A.I. For those who wish to join the Link Games next year, this may encourage you to try and obtain the best A.I. you can”,

The students remained silent.

The Headmaster turned around to look at Hikaru.

“Do you wish to see what your A.I. can do, Mr Arakan?”,

“Hmm… I guess so. At least it would shut him up”,

[STATIC]

“Be quiet, were getting there”,

The Headmaster laughed slightly.

“It’s good to see you’re already on friendly terms. Aliza, don’t go easy on the boy. After all, this is a demonstration, not a lesson”,

“Yes sir”,

She replied with a bow of the head.

“Alright good. Now… would everyone follow me outside”.

Everyone gathered in a giant field. This was where they would usually hold sports events for the students, such as football or baseball. However, today, it was an arena. Students were all lined up next to each other, making one giant circle. At two ends, we’re Hikaru and Aliza. In the centre, covered in a giant bubble-like shield, haze blue in colour, was Hariel, Hikaru’s A.I.

Aliza approached the bubble to summon her own.

She raised her right hand slightly.

“Cinzeira!”,

Suddenly, a giant whirlpool of black and white flames appeared in the bubble. It span and span around until, just then, it’s burst away revealing a creature which was hidden inside it.

The students moaned out in excitement and amazement at the manifestation of Aliza’s A.I. before them.

Cinzeira appeared to look like a giant black fox. She stood around 8 feet in height, on all fours. On the wrists of her paws were red glowing rings, as well as one around her neck. There was also 3 more, on the 3 things everyone was staring at.

She possessed 3 waving tails made from black, white, and red flames respectively. The tails themselves were as thick and huge as the body itself.

Her eyes glowed a deathly and bloody red just as her fangs shined a pure silvery colour.

Belle was absolute stunned. She appeared to shiver, whether it was because of fear or excitement, no one knew. However, her attention was moved over to looking at Arthur. He appeared to be doing something, which no other human being in this scenario would do.

He was tying a blindfold around his eyes.

Surprised by this, she asked.

“What? What are you doing that for!? Don’t you want to see the fight!?”,

“No”,

He replied with seriousness.

“Why!?”,

“Don’t worry about it”,

Belle was left absolutely stunned and confused, but her mind quickly let go of the subject as the Headmaster spoke.

“Hikaru! This will be your first fight with your A.I. Your goal should not be to win, but to learn. Learn its strengths and weaknesses. His overall power. What he can and can’t do”,

“Yes Headmaster!”,

He shouted back.

Aliza approached the bubble and rested her hand on it. Cinzeira looked back at her Master.

“Please, please, PLEASE! I know I told you that you could have a week off, but I’m trying to teach new A.I. Holders”,

“I DO NOT CARE. YOU PROMISED ME!”,

Cinzeira answered back. While to everyone, much like Hariel, she sounded like static noise, this was the voice Aliza could hear. A female’s voice as demonic yet almighty as a God’s.

“Come on Cinzei-“,

“NOT ONLY HAVE YOU MANIFESTED ME WHEN YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE, YOU’VE DONE IT IN FRONT OF AN AUDIENCE!? ARE YOU BECOMING THICK, GIRL!?”,

“If you do this for me, I’ll let you meet Águia”,

Aliza rushed those words out her mouth while holding her hands in a praying position.

Cinzeira became quiet.

“If you do this, I promise yo- no, I vow to you, I will let you meet Águia for as long as you’d like”,

“WHEN?”,

Cinzeira had bitten the bait. The offer Aliza had made was too good to pass up. But Aliza, has no thoughts of ever breaking her vows.

“When my father returns home, you’ll see him”,

“FINE. SO WHAT? I JUST HAVE TO KILL THIS WEAKLING?”,

“Not really. We’re teaching him. This is his first time controlling an A.I. He still doesn’t know to control or properly communicate with it. So just make the fight a lesson”,

“IF YOU SAY SO”,

Cinzeira finally concentrated on the A.I. before her.

Aliza stepped away from the bubble after sighing a long breath of relief. She then looked towards the Headmaster and gave him a nod. He took that as her signal to be able to start.

“Alright. Let’s begin!”,

“Ma~n. Arthur, your sister is ruthless dude!”,

“Yeah, tends to happen when you call her ‘weak’. That was a bad choice of a word to use, Hikaru”.

Hikaru fell on his rear as he sat down on the grass, next to Belle and Arthur. It was then that, for some reason, Arthur looked closely at his friend.

Hikaru was the same age as him and Belle and yet, much like Belle, he acted with an attitude of a younger self. He had hazel brown hair and a pine colour to his eyes. Speaking of which, Arthur couldn’t ever remember a moment where they weren’t glinting with excitement or joy.

He was quite muscular, but not the over the board type, he had a simple toned body, darker skinned than Arthur at least. He was also the tallest of the trio, standing at 6 foot 2. But the one thing Arthur always enjoyed about him, was his smile.

Never did he see him with a saddened or depressed or even angry face. It was always smiling. He found it heart-breaking really.

“Yo Arth, when are you up?”,

“I’ll be one of the last ones…”,

He replied as he laid down on the grass the three of them sat on.

He placed his hands under his head, to act as a cushion, and looked towards the sunny sky.

Other students were Connecting to their own A.I. back inside the gym, but the three of them weren’t really interest in everybody else’s. They only wanted to know their own little group’s. The Headmaster had taken over Aliza in guiding the students, so she was heading their way.

Belle took notice of her first and gave her a wave.

“Hey Aliza”,

She said as she approached.

“Hey guys. Here!”,

She held out her hands and on them, 3 sodas occupied them.

“Cheers!”,

Said Hikaru, being the first to take one.

“Thank you”,

Said Belle as she took hers.

Aliza then looked down at Arthur and took a seat next to him. She then raised the drink above his head and spoke.

“Here”,

Arthur looked at the bottom of the drink before raising his right hand, grabbing the drink.

“Thanks”,

“When are you guys up then?”,

She spoke to both Belle and Arthur, but she was looking at Belle.

“We’re some of the last”,

“Hmm. So, Belle, are you hoping for a good A.I.?”,

“Oh yes! I want a beautiful Oceanic Archetype. Preferably Enoploteuthidae Class”,

“Not a bad choice! They’re extremely beautiful during the night. When I went to Hawaii, they held a monthly event called The Night of Lights. Everyone possessing a Enoploteuthidae and Quantula Class, would manifest them and be the only visible lights in the entire island”,

Belle’s eyes glowed and gleamed more and more as she heard more about it.

“Now that’s something I’d love to see”,

“Well, I’m sure you can. After all, later today, no more college”,

“Yeah… I’m going to miss this though”,

“Everyone always does, for one reason or another”,

Belle then turned to Arthur.

“What about you Arthur? What kind of A.I. are you hoping for?”,

“Don’t know”,

While Arthur sounded uninterested, that was not his intention. He was still laying down, now with his eyes closed.

“Oh, come on, you must have an idea”,

“Belle, do you want to know why he says that?”,

Aliza asked.

“Huh?”,

“There’s a reason why Arthur hasn’t seen any of the A.I. today”,

“Please tell me!”,

She responded, getting closer to Aliza.

“Yeah, me too! I want to know why he didn’t even bother to watch my humiliating loss”,

Hikaru butted in.

Aliza chuckled at his request. She then turned to Arthur. He, feeling her eyes staring at him, simply waved his hand in the air as if to say, ‘go ahead’.

“You see, Arthur is aiming to get a Limboic Archetype”,

“HUH!?”,

The two of them cried out in shock,

“A hidden rule to obtain a Limboic Archetype is that one must never have seen an A.I. before”,

“Why go through all that trouble?”,

“Every single person in our family either possesses or has possessed a Limboic in their life. He just doesn’t want to be the odd one out”,

“Yeah but, aren’t Limboic Archetypes the rarest Archetypes of all!?”,

“Correct Hikaru. But the thing is, having a Limboic means more than just having a rare Spirit. You have to carry a weight with it”,

“A weight?”,

“I won’t say what it is, but, let me put it to you this way. You have to be someone like our parents, or me, or… even Arthur, to fully understand and use them to their full potential”,

Realising what Aliza meant, Belle purposely made Hikaru avoid any further questioning.

“Well, Hikaru, tell me about yours. You were in there for 6 months, right? Did you meet right away or…”,

The three of them carried on Belle’s conversation, but Arthur paid them no mind. Instead, whereas before he was looking at the sky, he was now looking at Belle. Whether it was just because she was talking, or because of what she said before to avoid Hikaru from asking further questions. His mind couldn’t decide. In either case, he had a strange feeling come over him.

A couple of hours had passed. While it was still sunny and bright outside, the cool breeze in the air had picked up. Most students by now had already tried obtaining their own A.I. The ones that succeeded in doing so, were scattered from place to place throughout the field, showing them off to each other.

The unlucky few that didn’t, were sat alone, away from everyone else, feeling a clear feeling of frustration and powerlessness. While they had friends who tried to console them, most just wanted to be left alone, a just request really.

The Headmaster then looked to the few who haven’t obtained one yet. While there were no more than 30 left, he had started to become fatigued after helping around 300 students already.

He walked over to Aliza, and when she noticed him, she stood up to greet him.

“Sir”,

“Aliza. Do you mind doing the few that are left. I’m not exactly young like you lot anymore”,

The Headmaster said with a tired smile.

“Of course, sir”,

“Here’s the registry list. Best of luck”,

“Yes, thank you sir”,

The Headmaster then walked away to take a seat with the two previous teachers. They were sat in some chairs under a tree for shade.

Aliza scrolled through the list and checked who it was to do their Connection next. As her finger ran down the paper, she abruptly stopped. Her finger rested just below Belle’s name. Placing a smile, she turned around and looked down at the girl.

“Miss Belladonna Adelaide, you’re up next”,

Aliza saw the giant smile slowly grow on the younger girl’s face. Belle jumped up with speed and force and walked back into the gym. Aliza followed. After setting everything up, Aliza stood back, watching her carefully.

She looked back at the teacher recording the time, and the teacher nodded. Aliza then turned back to Belle.

“When your ready”,

Belle suddenly clapped. The sound was loud and firm.

“Do it!”,

Aliza was about to press start but Hikaru and Arthur both came into the gym as well, taking a seat by the front row. She gave them a smile before finally pressing the logo.

Arthur kept an internal ticking clock in his head, counting every second Belle hadn’t returned.

20 seconds…

53 seconds…

82 seconds…

Hikaru started to worry. Not only him but all the students still inside. Aliza was holding her breath, wishing Belle good luck, inside her head.

92 seconds…

When Alex counted that number, he immediately sat up. His eyes quivered as the worst scenario appeared in his head. He stared deeply at Aliza and noticed his sister’s composure.

She was worried.

Aliza appeared to be biting her lip hard. Her fingers were moving due to the worry. Her attention was suddenly grabbed by the teacher shouting.

“100 seconds!”,

(Come on Belle! Do it already!).

Alex shouted internally.

101…

102…

103…

104…

105…

106…

Suddenly, SMASH! The ground shook violently, like an earthquake had erupted nearby. Whatever made the ground violently shake like that, caused multiple students and the teachers alike to suddenly fall, as they lost their footing. Arthur and Hikaru stood up as they looked around. Their balance was hard to keep but they were managing.

“LOOK!”,

Hikaru shouted with all his might, pointing his finger forward.

Arthur looking at him, then looking in the direction he pointed, his eyes had burst open. His mouth was as wide as it could be while his eyes trembled at the sight before him. He couldn’t decide what emotion to display. Amazement, fear, or terror.

Where Belle had previously been laying on the chair, her body was now laid flat on the ground, as if she were asleep, or worse. However, this wasn’t what set Arthur to feel complete helplessness. No, it was the thing crystallising above Belle.

The ground around her began turning to a thin sheet of ice. The slab, the fallen over machine, even the very air. All began to freeze, not in time, but in ice. It was both gorgeously beautiful and horrifically terrifying.

But much like Hikaru right now, this wasn’t what Arthur was shocked about.

It was the Manifestation of an A.I. rising from said ice.

It began to take form from its huge talons, growing from its paws. Proceeding further, taking shape, a giant tail with large icicles at its tip, appeared, swinging from side to side with great force. The main body was close to that of a lizard’s, but much like the rest, made entirely from ice.

It’s head looked demonic, tapered in shape, muzzle patterned similar to that of a dog, long mouth. With teeth set up similar to an alligator, except it possessed three jaws and 6 sets of icy teeth.

It’s 3 pairs of eyes glowed a cold and harsh blue as its dual membrane eyelids blinked every 10 seconds. Two giant horns emerged from its snout all the way to the back of its icy head making a smooth crescent curve as they did so. And taking the centre stage, it’s wings.

They span such a large area; they covered the entire gym. Much like the rest of itself, the wings were also made from ice, and for every flap, it sent air and water that froze everything it touched. They looked like wings from a bat, only taken to the absolute extreme.

By any sense of the words, this creature, this A.I., looked, like an Ice Dragon. At least, that’s what Arthur thought. While he had never laid eyes on A.I. Manifestations before, that’s exactly what it looked like to him.

It’s sheer size was gigantic to say the least. Easily standing tall at over 80 feet tall, from snout to tail tip at well over 380. But wingtip to wingtip easily covered a 1000-foot area. It was no understatement to say that this thing took the whole gym to hold.

To put it bluntly, in the eyes of all the mortals around, this may have very well been the incarnation of a God.

Well… not all mortals exactly. The Headmaster who barged in after hearing the shaking, the teachers accompanying him and Aliza, all had calm expressions when faced with such a monstrosity. Seeing his sister’s calm face, had relaxed Arthur a bit, but not completely. The fact that she wasn’t panicking, made him think, the newly born A.I. wasn’t a threat.

Out of nowhere, the Dragon like Spirit, both roared and screeched an almighty sound. While it wasn’t so powerful it would knock one to the ground, it did send a sharp pain up one’s head, causing some to limp over in pain.

When it did, it’s voice was soon quietened, more like commanded to silence, by an even greater in volume squawk emerging from outside. The sound was very much reminiscent to that of an eagle or a hawk. This sound, however, was very much louder in contrast.

Almost everybody suddenly fell to the floor, writhing and flailing in pain from their ears and heads. Once again, the only ones who kept their cool were the Headmaster, his staff and Aliza. However, their cool wasn’t exactly subtle. Aliza was seen with a shocked face, while the Headmaster had a small smirk rise up in his lips.

The Dragon suddenly disappeared in a great flash and as if Aliza and The Headmaster could predict the future, they began running outside the gym, leaving the still downed students in the care of the other teachers.

As they left the gym’s doors, they saw the Dragon reappear outside in the field where the rest of the other students remained. However, this time, Aliza’s and The Headmaster’s eyes were not trained on the Dragon, but something else.

Arthur looked around to see if Hikaru was alright. Upon confirming that his friend apparently isn’t as weak as he may sound, he proceeded to look at Belle who was accompanied by a teacher at this point. Seeing that she was getting care, made Arthur feel a bit more relaxed and he tried following his siter outside and see if he could get an answer as to what is happening.

Trying his best not to pass out from the sheer pain of the noise still ongoing, he stumbled his way through the doors. He took a quick glance upwards and saw Aliza outside looking upwards, in surprise. When he finally locked eyes with whatever Aliza was looking at, he became shocked.

When Arthur saw the Ice Dragon, he was filled with both amazement and terror, his mind simply couldn’t pick which one. Now, only terror filled both his mind, and his heart. The thing he was looking at couldn’t be real, could it?

Was he truly looking at what he thought it was?

Hovering now, above the Ice Monster, was a giant eagle, unlike no other. It’s size easily doubled that of the dragon in all aspects. While the body and general shape of it resembled that of the flying bird, there were certain specifics about it, which made it… Mystical.

Instead of possessing a single pair of wings, it possessed 3. They effortlessly beat the size of the dragon’s own. They clapped with force, creating strong winds when the air pushed down from the flap, hit the ground.

Its feathers were a mixture of the black and gold colours, with the black absorbing light, while the gold glistened like the treasures of old.

It’s head, while huge, retained a very eagle like appearance, apart from one thing. The beak. While it was naturally shaped to a curve at the point much like its earthly brethren, this one at its root, the beak appeared to spread over the eagle’s head, splitting like branches on a tree, creating a sort of antlers on its head.

It’s talons we’re ginormous. Gold in colour, much like its own feathers, except they glowed in a certain way. Like the sun shining of the sharpened edge of a Japanese Katana, it’s talons shined a deathly warning, to whoever faced it.

The thing was, while Arthur and most watching didn’t know this new Monstrosity to appear, what they were encountering was the Pinnacle of Power. The Strongest of the Strong. The King of Kings. The God of Gods. This was none other than, Águia, The Limboic Zealot of The Fallen Feather.

As stated though, not everyone was impressed or terrified. Aliza was actually quite calm in this situation. Not only because she knew what it signified, Águia being here, but also because, of who it belonged to.

Águia keep on screeching, sending its powerful sound waves towards the Ice Dragon. The Dragon flailed just like the humans below it, unable to take the pain. The eagle carried on and the dragon flailed even more.

Soon enough, something happened. The ice that made the Dragon’s skin, slowly, but surely, began to crack. Seeing as this was its skin and not just another layer on top of it, the Dragon roared in pain.

It used its crumbling wings to try and reach Águia, but it was in vain. The second the Dragon thought he had some air, Águia, using her golden talons, dug them into its ice wings and shattered them.

The Dragon fell back down onto the ground, squirming in absolute agony. Águia landed on top of it and began to tear. Its beak broke the Dragon’s own talons, making sure it couldn’t attack. The Dragon struggled and tried to wrap itself around Águia, much like a snake would try to do, but much like before, it was not successful.

While the battle between these two behemoths raged on, Arthur had begun getting his basic senses back. The pain had subsided, allowing him to think straight and stand straight. He looked back and to his surprise, Hikaru had made his way outside as well.

“Hikaru! You ok?”,

Arthur asked approaching him,

“Y-Yeah. Somehow. What the fuck is going on!?”,

“To be honest… I don’t kn-“,

Arthur interrupted himself. While he was chatting to Hikaru, his eyes were swaying from place to place seeing the giants duke it out. It was then that he noticed his sister try to signal something at him. The noise was far too much to hear Aliza’s screams, but by her lips, Arthur only needed to pick up on thing.

Belle.

She was still laying down, currently in the gym. While it didn’t look like she had suffered any injuries, she still laid on the ground, unmoving.

Arthur didn’t say a word. He immediately jumped into action and began sprinting towards her location. As he approached the door to the gym, Águia and the Dragon fell to the ground, as they tousled with one another.

One problem… they fell into the gym.

As the building appeared to come down with every single movement these two mammoths caused in their fight, Arthur could only think about a single person inside.

Arthur dodged their bodies, keeping his eyes focused on Belle’s direction. Aliza taking notice of this, began screaming his name, and telling him to stop seeing Águia and the Dragon destroying the gym in their wake. He ignored her. After all, his best friend was in the middle of all this. Why would he stop himself from helping?

As he got closer and closer to the now visible Belle, a giant piece of ice, identified as one of the Dragon’s horns, fell right in front of Arthur. He timely jumped to the side, before regaining his balance and joining Belle’s side.

He looked at her with worry flooding his mind. She laid flat on her stomach, so he turned her around. The sight of her condition made Arthur uneasy and even further filled with worry. Belle had half her face covered in ice and was still unconscious. Her right arm and leg were also frozen.

While the limbs themselves didn’t look like they had suffered frostbite, the ice covered her limbs none the less.

He raised his middle and index finger to her throat, and thankfully, felt a smooth yet slow pulse.

“Arthur! Get out of there! It’s not safe!”,

He could hear Aliza scream at him again.

Just like before though, he ignored it.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, blood splattered all over Arthur’s face. The sudden shock and impact made him look towards the direction from where it came.

All he could see however was a red pile of blood with only human skin remains attached to some tattered school uniform.

The A.I.s kept fighting all around him. Ice and feathers fell from the sky, landing near both of them. It was then that a giant piece of ice, consisting of one of the Dragon’s arms, fell right next to him.

When it did, the ground shook and he finally understood, this wasn’t a safe place to help Belle. He picked her up as if she was a princess, his right arm holding her chest and head, while his left held her knees and legs.

When he finally stood, with Belle in hand, a sudden maniacal scream was heard from his sister.

“LOOK OUT!”,

Arthur looked at Aliza before quickly looking up. He saw the Dragon, falling, with its body quickly making its way down on top of him. If he didn’t move, he’d be crushed. If he ditched Belle to make it away in time, she’d die.

Time around him seemed to slow as he tried to figure out a way to get the two of them away to safety. Inch by inch, the body of the nearly destroyed Dragon felt closer and closer.

A sudden spark of thought however, gave him an idea. He didn’t know whether it would work or not. He wasn’t certain, which went against everything he knew. He didn’t like to take chances and yet, this was probably his best.

As the body came down above him, Arthur took a knee and raised his right hand while holding Belle.

He saw the cable was still attached to her Link in the back of her neck. He closed his eyes and tugged it, unlinking itself.

Just as quickly as he did this however, he reached around his own neck and used his Link to connect.

The instance that *click* went off confirming the union of the cables, everything flashed.

The body of the dragon fell to the ground, and with it, Águia. She grabbed the Dragon’s head between her beak and with a powerful screech and a great show of force, she bit down, pulverising the icy head.

Somewhere in the world, a man was sat in front of two others. He unconsciously flinched, letting out a sigh with it.

“Senhor Hyuga? Está tudo bem? [Mr Hyuga? Is everything alright?]”,

The man looked up with a smile,

“Parece que o meu filho começou [Looks like my son has started]”,

The world around him was dark. Darker than anything he had seen before. But he didn’t care, his idea paid off. Arthur was alone in a dark world with Belle. The ice around her body had slowly disappeared and her rosy skin appeared to have returned to normal.

He let out a sigh of relief and a smile of happiness, seeing that she was okay.

“Even asleep, you still manage to cause trouble”,

He said to her, expecting no response back.

He laid her down on the seemingly non-existent floor. While she was laying down perfectly flat, there was no ground to speak of, it simply looked as if they were both floating on nothing.

Arthur then took a minute to analyse his surroundings.

His eyes looked from left to right, up and down, and yet he saw nothing. Just pure black greeted his vision.

‘Is this… Mother’s Soul?’.

“INCORRECT”,

A feminine voice seemed to speak from all around him, causing him to panic and further look around him. He tried to pin down the source of the voice from its original location, but it didn’t work.

“Who’s there!?”,

“Boooo~oooo. BOOO~~OOOO”,

Arthur realised what the voice pretended to be, and quickly lowered his eyebrows in anger.

(Is it fucking with me!?),

He thought to himself.

“Yeah, just a bit. You’re way too serious man, relax!”,

Again, the voice peered through. Arthur didn’t say his thoughts out loud, and yet, the voice replied.

“So, you can read minds?”,

“Hehe, well done. Indeed, I can”,

“Where are you?”,

“Hmm… here… maybe there… or perhaps over there. Who knows? Want to try and find me?”,

The entire time the voice talked in a relaxed tone towards Arthur, yet, it still had no origin. Arthur kept looking and looking, and still, couldn’t find anything. No voice. No person. Nothing, just pure darkness. He thought it was maybe inside his head, but that wasn’t it either.

“So? Who are you?”,

“Before that, I’m afraid she will have to leave”,

Realising what the voice meant, he looked down at Belle. He crouched at her side to check her once more. She was indeed alive. Her breathing was slow and her heart rate the same, but alive none the less.

He too knew, he needed to get Belle out. If she became conscious, she could escape whatever was happening. Aliza would make sure of that.

“How so I send her back?”,

Asked Arthur. He didn’t ask in any particular direction, since it didn’t matter anyway.

“I can do it for you. I’ll need you to do something for me though”,

“And that is?”,

“Raise her hands and joined them together”,

Arthur paused for a second. He had doubts about this, sure, but Belle needed to escape as soon as possible. While he didn’t like leaving her life in the hands of something he couldn’t see, he had no other way to go about this.

Like instructed, he joined both of Belle’s hands, and they suddenly disappeared from his grasp. Not only her hands, but Belle in her entirety. Her body vanished in the same way they both suddenly appeared in this dark space.

Arthur took a breath of relief but remained sceptical. Before he could say anything however, the voice spoke.

“You don’t have to worry. I returned her. I took possession of the I:DI/OM Mark. V Soul Analyser by both your bodies and wirelessly transferred her consciousness back to her. But enough about her… so, you’re my Host”,

“Host?”,

Arthur asked as he stood,

“Indeed. As an A.I. as you like to call us, this is what we call our Masters, or more specifically, our Human Owners”,

“Hmm, I see. So, will you show me Mother’s Soul now?”,

“Oh?”,

“You said this isn’t it. Told me I was incorrect. I’m guessing you’re hiding it, or more accurately, hiding me, stopping me from seeing it”,

“My, you are fascinating”,

“Well? Will you show it to me?”,

“Are you sure you want to see it?”,

Arthur tightened his eyes,

“Is there a reason I shouldn’t?”,

“To be blunt, you’re not exactly the nicest of people, Arthorius Ynha-El Hyuga. In fact, as my Host, I do have to say, I’m a little worried”,

“Worry in your own time. Show it to me”,

“Haa~ as you wish”,

The voice replied with a sigh. The darkness around Arthur began to dissipate, revealing the world around him. He should have taken the voice’s advice, the sight he saw, sent shivers up his spine.

Arthur appeared to be standing on top of a semi collapsed skyscraper. The world was dark. There was a large circle shining up above. One would think it was the sun, but it surely didn’t look it. Instead of the beautiful golden yellow it’s usually represented as, it was a black, abyssal circle.

Instead of shining the world below it, it did the exact opposite. The pure dark sun absorbed whatever little light was left of the ruined world below it. The sky was a foggy black, no stars, no moon, no nothing. Just pure black with the ruined sun being its only inhabitant.

This was already enough to shock Arthur, but as his vision began to run down, the world in front of him made him feel even more grim.

There were building, cars, streetlights, roads, everything one could usually see if they looked down from a high point in a middle of a city. However, it was not the same.

The buildings were destroyed, no paint nor windows to be seen in sight. Most of them were already rubble while others were on the verge of collapse.

Cars, signs and posts dotted here and there were destroyed. Either ablaze with a black flame or completely misshapen from its original look.

The roads were blocked, destroyed, tarmac broken up.

To put it simple…

It had looked like a city had just experienced every major catastrophic event one could imagine. Earthquakes, storms, maybe even nuclear war. Nothing remained down there which could signify the possibility of life.

The more Arthur stared, the more his eyes widened.

“This… this is Mother’s Soul?”,

“Indeed. Well… to you at least. A never ending wasteland, void of both light and life, equally the same. A destroyed space mimicking the very actions and thoughts you have done, currently do or ever will. Welcome Arthorius… to the end of the world”,

A small amount of fear started to creep up his mind, but he did his best to shake it off. A question he wanted an answer to suddenly popped in his head.

“Can I die in here?”,

“Haha, no, no you cannot”,

“Can I suffer any pain at all?”,

“Depends on the situation”,

Arthur heard that answer very carefully. He wanted to test something out. This was the beginning of the ‘cheat’ his sister told him just the night before.

Arthur stepped towards to the edge of the building he stood on. Looking down, he was easily over 200 stories up. That didn’t matter.

He jumped.

“Eh? EEEHHHHH!!!!???”,

The voice screamed out with a gasp as it saw its Host suddenly take a leap of faith. While it would take little time to reach the bottom, the voice conversed with Arthur anyway.

“W-W-What you are doing!?”,

“I can’t die right!?”,

He replied with his own question, slightly shouting as the air rushed past his body and he fell at tremendous speed.

“Y-Yeah! But why? Do you want to die!?”,

“I don’t really know”,

“What the fuck does that mean!?”,

“I’ve changed my mind. I don’t want to do this anymore. Help me out, will you?”

“Huh!? Now you’re regretting your decision!? Are you an idiot!?”,

“Maybe…”,

The ground got closer and closer. Neither of their voices was heard. The ground got even closer. Arthur closed his eyes but placed a grin on his face.

“FINE!”,

The voice shouted out. When he heard this, Arthur opened his eyes to see something flying at him. While he squinted to try and make out what it was, he couldn’t properly see it. It was too dark after all.

However, he did notice one thing. It was heading towards him at an impossible rate.

He was now mere metres from the ground, but the flying object suddenly struck him in the chest. It came at him with such force, pushing him into the building, destroying the wall to his back and pushing him into a room.

Arthur rolled and tumbled around, until finally coming to a stop. It was true, the voice was right, he didn’t die at all, but still, the impact with the wall at such speed and force caused him to struggle to breathe.

He coughed and inhaled as hard as he could. Internally, it felt as if his lungs were suddenly smashed with a sledgehammer. And still, while he didn’t take any damage, he definitely felt the pain.

“You. Are. Nuts! How am I supposed to follow a Master like you when your mind isn’t even in the right place, huh!?”,

There it was. That voice. It no longer sounded like it was coming from his head. It had an origin point. Arthur abruptly stopped doing whatever he was doing and began to slowly stand up.

The voice came from behind him. While he wanted to turn as quickly as possible, at the same time he had certain doubts in his head.

“Hmm? What’s wrong? Still in shock?”,

That voice. It felt more feminine than before. He could hear every syllable clearly. The perfections and imperfections of each word being spoken. His ears easily picked up its location and direction, he could tell when she moved her lips, he could feel her very presence in the room, her breathing, even the batting of her eyelashes.

This was it!

His very own A.I.!

He slowly turned. His eyes looking as far left as they could, trying to get a sneak peek before he could make a full 180 turn. That single turn felt like an eternity in his mind, and yet it only lasted a single second.

As he laid eyes upon her, time froze. A single instance, that’s all it took to gather everything. Every detail, every colour, every curve and line, every shadow and light, any, and every thing. He recorded it all in that single moment.

Much like the voice gave it away, his A.I. was feminine. She looked extremely close to a human, but a few things about her made sure she wasn’t one.

Starting from the top, down, Arthur began to look carefully as to what she looked like. She stood at about 6 foot in height. Her head was covered in white hair with red highlights at the end of every single hair strand, coming down to her lower back.

She possessed two horns on both sides of her head pointing to her rear, red in colour, with a small curve to it towards the back. It looked like horns a Demon Queen might have. Being attached to the horns at their root and going all around her hair, was an accessory of a golden chain with a grey diamond hanging from it.

Moving on to her face, her complexion was young and beautiful. Her skin was pale white, similar colour to a pure white of paper. This was in contrast with her eyes. They both glowed a burning and demonic red from the iris. The pupil was an abyssal black much like the sky of Mother’s Soul. The sclera was the same colour, causing her to look even more like a demon.

Her nose was thin and perky and yet it complimented her face well. Her lips were smooth and glistening, mostly thanks to the rosy, red lipstick she wore. On her neck, she possessed a sort of thin white bandage, making it look like she had a choker on.

Her outfit was revealing, and yet, not at all. Her clothing was mainly made from red and black leather strapping around her body, exposing things like cleavage, the sides of her stomach, and her back.

Moving down to her legs, she had the same leather strapping around her right leg, leaving her left, totally exposed. However, there was something strange about all the exposed areas of her body.

All the exposed areas had a black liquid kind of effect covering them. Her chest, her leg and her arms both were fully covered by this ever changing and moving blackness.

Even on her feet, while she didn’t wear any shoes or boots, the black liquid surrounding her body, moulded itself into some high heels for her to stand on, giving it a sort of look that she was wearing black leather boots that came up to the top of her thighs.

Her hands were also deformed. They didn’t look human like her face, instead she possessed giant claw like hands. Still had the five fingers you would expect a Humanoid to have, but instead of the normal fingers, giant claws took their place. They were also black in colour, made from the same stuff that covered her body.

From her back, hanged a book like object, dangling from side to side, hanging on a silver chain attached to her actual skin. The book appeared metallic, silver and red in colour, and about the size of a small light novel.

Whether Arthur wanted this or not, whether he wished it or not, whether he expected it or not, this was his A.I.

After the initial shock, surprise, and even doubt, had cleared his mind, Arthur stepped closer to her. The female tilted her head slightly, wandering what he was going to do or say. Arthur reaches out his hand and spoke.

“Arthorius Ynha-El Hyuga”,

She stared at his empty hand for a second before realising what he wanted.

She raised her own hand up. Without notice, it began to morph into a normal looking human hand, it even had the same skin colour as her face. While this widened Arthur’s eyes in surprise, he didn’t have enough time to make anything of it.

She grabbed his hand, sharing a handshake with her new Host, her new Master. She placed a wonderful smile upon her lips and spoke softly.

“A pleasure Master Hyuga. I am… Guinevere”,

Arthur felt her hand upon his own. She was cold, astonishingly so.

“Guinevere? Ha~ how very apt”,

“Hmm? My name is ‘apt’?”,

Arthur let go of her hand.

“Yea. Guess we’ll have to find out who Lancelot is”,

“Huh? What are you on about?”,

She asked with annoyance to her voice, feeling excluded from the conversation.

“Don’t worry, just amusing myself”,

He replied.

“So, you’re the manifestation of my A.I. huh? I’ll be honest, I wasn’t expecting a female humanoid”,

“Well, I’m not a Humanoid Class if that’s what you’re trying to get at”,

“Really?”,

Arthur asked with sarcasm, or perhaps, it was rhetorical.

He took a seat on a destroyed part of a wall. As he sat, his eyes automatically wavered to look at Guinevere.

“So, what Archetype are you exactly?”,

Guin looked at him intensely.

Arthur’s mind ran with a million thoughts. This was the moment of truth. He would either go home, accomplishing his mission, or, in the worst possible scenario, fail and face his mother’s disapointment.

“Well… I’ve got good news, and bad news, for you”.

The sun stroke at the cleaned glass panel, letting in a small amount of heat and brightening up the room inside. A small breeze hit the thin white curtains, making them flutter slightly. If one looked in, the room was compromised of 6 hospital beds.

The 6 beds were in turn separated by some thick curtains hanging from the drinking down, giving each bed a sort of ‘private area’ for the patients. In 5 of those beds, there was none to speak off, but in one, the bed by the fluttering curtain and the cleaned glass panel, was Belle.

An electric door was suddenly heard opening in the back of the room and the sounds of heels hitting the hard tile floor, echoed.

They approached Belle. The sound of a chair moving was heard before a small thump followed.

The automatic door opened again, but this time, instead of calculated, counted, and slow steps, a jumble of footsteps made their way into the room, like their owner was in a hurry. Before the person who entered could speak, the first person to come in, gave them an alert.

“Shhh~”,

She signalled him with a finger up to her lips.

The footsteps suddenly stopped, as the man replied with a whisper.

“Sorry Aliza. Still asleep huh?”,

“Yeah. Considering what happened in there, I’m not surprised”,

“I see…”,

“Hikaru… any word on Arthur?”,

He sat down with Aliza after the pulled up a chair from the nearby corner. His face was gloomy which was a surprise, after all, Hikaru always had a smile on his face.

“I’m afraid not. There’s still teachers and students watching the area… but…”,

Aliza looked at the gloomy student and then outside the window in front of her.

“He’s been gone 24 hours now…”.

“What’s the good news?”,

“Good news first? Are you sure?”,

“I prefer to eat ice cream before I have to move on to the vegetables”,

Guinevere began laughing.

“A fair enough reason. Well, the good news is, I am exactly what you wanted”,

“You mean-“,

“Indeed. I am a Limboic Archetype”,

Arthur’s eyes gleamed with joy.

(I’ve done it! I’ve actually done it!),

However, the celebration currently happening in his head, came to a sudden halt.

“Wait, so… what are the bad news?”,

Guinevere then took a seat next to Arthur when he asked. She looked him straight in the eyes.

“The bad news is, I’ve lost my Abilities”,

“Huh?”,

Arthur had to process her answer for a minute.

“W-What do you mean?”,

He asked her.

Guinevere raised the book which hanged from the chain on her back. She raised it up to him and opened it. To Arthur’s surprise, the book merely contained one single metal page.

While the fact that the pages of the book were made from silver instead of paper, didn’t alarm him as much as it would to others, what alarmed him more, was the fact it only contained one.

“This book is known as The Relinquished Armoury. It stores all of my, and now your powers. But to you, it contains my ability to help you. Things like Mental Stability, Accelerated Neuron Movement, Time Perception… As you can see, there’s only one page left”,

“So, our Abilities are recorded in those pages?”,

“Precisely”

“That’s all we’ve got?”,

“No, not exactly. This book actually contained 13 pages, 14 including this one”,

“What happened?”,

Guinevere pointed to the world outside the building they sat on,

“Out there”,

“Hmm?”,

“The pages are lost to the world”,

Arthur’s eyes widened.

“You see, Mother’s Soul isn’t exactly… peaceful. I’ve been fighting your inner demons since your birth. Overtime, pages came undone or were taken from me. Meaning-“,

“Meaning, if I want our powers back, I must go out there and collect them all”,

“Yes…”,

Arthur groaned. While he definitely was ecstatic that he was able to get a Limboic Archetype, the fact that they both were essentially powerless, made him both angry and frustrated.

“Do you know where they are?”,

He asked with hesitation, thinking the worst.

“Most, yes. But… not all”,

“Fuck. Goddamn it!”,

He stood up and stomped his foot.

“Fuck!”,

He stomped again.

“FUCK!”,

He shouted as he punched the wall.

While he’d didn’t receive any damage to his hand, the pain still coursed through his nerves. He took a deep breath and relaxed himself. Arthur then looked at Guin, who appeared to have a guilty and sorrow look to her face.

“What?”,

“I’m sorry. This is my fault”,

“No, it isn’t. It’s mine. It’s my version of Mother’s Soul after all”,

“But-“,

“Enough about that. Let’s go look for them”,

“Huh?”,

Guinevere gasped as she looked up.

“I’m not returning until we have all of them. Speaking of which, let me have a look at that page”,

“Uhh, okay”,

Guin stood up and presented Arthur the book. He opened it and looked deeply at the silver page in front of him. However, to his greater surprise, the page was blank.

“It’s empty”,

“Yes. That page is called The Heir’s Series. It’s a page dedicated to the Abilities you create or acquire”,

Arthur flinched.

“I create?”,

“My power consists of mainly Support Attributes. I mainly control bodily functions and upkeep your body from within. But that page, that page allows me to create any new ability you desire”,

Arthur looked back down at the empty silver sheet. Thoughts rushed his mind, but he didn’t pay them any attention. Instead, he closed the book, handed it back over and walked to the exit of the building. More specifically, the whole they created when Arthur was smashed into it.

“Come on”,

“Eh? We’re going to go look for them now?”,

“I told you, didn’t I? I’m not going back until every last piece is retrieved”,

“B-But, they could be anywhere by now!”,

“That’s why we’re looking”,

“Throughout the whole world!?”,

Arthur turned back to face Guinevere. He smirked a little before responding.

“Yeah”.