The armored figure slowly released Loganel, allowing his body to fall towards the ground. The man stood over him, watching Loganel's lifeless body lay resting on the ground before him. The man didn't do anything nor did he say anything. He just stood there, gazing through the openings in his visor at the boy on the ground.

Nearby, Tetsuya and Marsha watched in horror as Loganel laid on the ground with his eyes closed. Anger pulsed through their veins as they yearned to get up, draw their weapon, and punish this offender to Loganel's life.

"What did you do to him?!" Tetsuya forced out in the loudest voice that he could muster. The paralysis was still in effect, meaning that he was still on the ground and unable to move anything other than his eyelids and mouth.

"..."

The man didn't respond to Tetsuya's stimulus. Instead, he continued to stand over Loganel and observed the him.

"I'll make you pay for this," Marsha muttered, but her voice lacked its usual sense of authority.

Even though Marsha barely knew Loganel, she felt a connection with him that only the two of them shared. They both suffered under the gruesome training routine of Avelin, which was already enough to make them comrades. In addition to that connection, prior to this expedition, her mentor, Avelin, had entrusted Loganel's safety to her, and Marsha didn't want to let Avelin's trust down. Her anger and resentment towards this armored figure was partly for herself, but it was also partly for Loganel.

A few minutes passed, and the armored figure continued standing there. He ignored the curses from Tetsuya and Marsha, in addition to the sounds of battle that came from outside the closed arena. This man merely stood there motionlessly as if awaiting for something, placing all attention on the boy that laid on the floor motionlessly before him. Finally, his patience paid off.

A small twitch of his finger signified his return to the physical world. Loganel slowly opened his eyes and took a few seconds to realize where he was at. Meanwhile, the armored man took a few steps back from the boy and gave him space to gather himself.

Loganel looked around his surroundings, and was reminded by Marsha and Tetsuya's glad faces of the situation at hand. He plunged his blade into the ground and used it to support himself as he pulled himself up from the ground. He took a deep breath as memories of what he had experienced slowly flowed back to him.

"I'm not in a very good mood right now," he said out loud, thinking back at the anger and regret he felt when he read the unsent letters that Logan had written in that mysterious world.

Loganel grabbed his sword by the handle and slowly raised it into the air with the tip pointed at the armored figure before him. Slowly, Loganel lifted his head to face the man, albeit with his eyes still closed. Loganel could feel a stinging pain in the area of his face where the red orb of light that the man had created when he grabbed onto Loganel's face, especially in his left eye. This pain he ignored, for there existed a much hotter inferno that blazed within his heart.

Slowly, Loganel opened his eyes, revealing a marked change in him. His right eye was still normal, but his left, is where the change had taken place. The white part of his left eye was replaced by a dreadful black, and his iris became a crimson red.

"Auge Crimson," said the armored man with his ghostly voice as he nodded in approval.

"The hell are you looking at?!" Loganel lunged at the man with his sword raised and delivered a strike which the man was able to easily deflect with his sword. However, Loganel followed up his attack with a series of slashes, forcing the man to back up.

Why is this happening? Loganel thought in surprise as his own attacks appeared strange yet familiar to him. When did I learn how to fight like this?

Loganel's mind was hesitant after witnessing a series of moves that he had never mastered or seen before, but his body continued on as if it was all written into his instincts.

Is...is this what he meant by experience and learn? Loganel wondered. These weird memories in my brain...what are these moves? What are these spells?

"Auge Azure," the man said once again as he back-stepped out of reach.

"The hell do you mean?" Loganel asked, not knowing that his left iris has changed color once again from a crimson red to an azure blue.

"Loganel...your eye." Tetsuya stared in disbelief

"What?" Loganel used the reflective surface of his black blade as a mirror and investigated his eye. "What is this?"

Loganel was surprised as he discovered the eerie blue of his iris that emitted a faint light that left a small trace of light in the air as he moved that vanished almost immediately.

"Did you do this?" Loganel glared at the armored figure in furry. "Answer me!"

A circular array of swords sudden appeared from behind Loganel, with the tip of the blades pointed against the armored man.

"Kriege," the man waved his left arm to his side, causing numerous arrays of swords to appear in the air behind the man in a similar fashion to what Loganel had accomplished.

"Kriege?" Loganel repeated in a wavering and confused voice as to what was happening. "Ack!" Due to the flow of adrenaline slowing down, the pain in Loganel's left eye was no longer masked and came at him in full strength. He brought his left hand up and pressed againt it in hopes that the pain would be alleviated. However, it was to no avail as his left eye burned him as if it was a piece of burning coal.

"Auge Beige," the man's voice said once again.

Loganel looked into the reflective surface of his blade once again, and he discovered that instead of the azure blue, his iris was now a beige yellow.

"What have you done to me?" Loganel shouted at him in confusion.

The man didn't answer. Instead, the man walked over to the center of the arena where a dark blade stood erected as it was embedded into the stone floor and pulled the blade out in order to wield it in his right hand. Next, he summoned a sword into his left hand, and he stood there motionlessly as he stared at Loganel.

Loganel, nodding as he understood what the man wanted from him, slowly walked over to Tetsuya while maintaining a constant cautious gaze at the man.

"Let me borrow this," Loganel whispered to Tetsuya before reaching for the blade that rested in the sheath that Tetsuya hung by his waist.

"Wait," Tetsuya forced out. "This is the holy blade, Exflage. Paladin Grant told me only the summoned hero can wield it." Despite Tetsuya's best efforts at warning Loganel of the inferior power of the blade when not wielded by the summoned hero, Loganel had walked away from him and was unable to hear Tetsuya's warning.

Tetsuya looked on in despair as the grim reality drowned him. He could sense an unpleasant force field from the dark blade the man wielded. It was obvious to him that the ominous blade contains a tremendous amount of dark power that could only be rivaled by the purifying light of Exflage. However, Tetsuya knows he still lacked the required strength and power to wield the blade to its full potential and that even he could not summon enough strength from the holy blade to combat that demonic weapon.

This was the reason why Tetsuya was shocked when Exflage was radiant with a pure and holy light of blessing. He could sense a formidable amount of power from his blade, a level that he had never imagined was possible.

This must be the Exflage that the heroes of the past wielded. Tetsuya looked on in awe.

"The end is near." The armored man stared longingly at the sky above through the small opening directly above the arena that led to the outside world. "Let it arrive." The man refocused on Loganel and entered into a combat stance with both swords in hand.

"For you at least..." Loganel responded, mimicking the man's form.

Then, their blades clashed.

Loganel was unfamiliar with dual-wielding. His whole life he has been taught to fight with a single sword and never with two. This was the reason why he was so surprised when he realized that his actions could actually maintain pace with the man that radiated the aura of a veteran that had endured numerous battles.

What is this feeling of nostalgia that's flowing through my body right now? Why does this feel so natural to me when I've never attempted it before? Why is it that his blade lacked any real intent to kill? Rather, all I could feel from it is...warmth? Come on... If you don't fight as if you want to kill me, how could I even bring myself to kill you? Please. Don't show me any kindness. Please, just try to go for the kill.

Each blow that the two exchanged in their rapid flurry of attacks was deflected and parried. Their blades bounced off of each others, creating a loud clanging noise that echoed in the empty arena. The two danced around each other in a stalemate as the sparks sprayed from their clashing blades onto the ground around them.

This feeling of nostalgia...it's like meeting an old friend after years of separation. So familiar, yet so alien. Who are you, masked man? Why do you feel so familiar to me? Why do you act so merciful to me? I know you can kill me anytime you want to if you just tried a bit more. So why are you limiting yourself to maintaining pace with me? Each time I speed up my attacks, you do so as well, and each time I slow down, you accommodate me. What is it that you seek?

The fury that Loganel felt earlier slowly evaporated from this warmth he felt within himself. The sound of their blades clashing slowly became a soothing lullaby to him as he subconsciously came to the conclusion that the man before him will never harm him. An extreme level of sadness dominated his mind, however, as he knows that this battle marked the end of the man before him. This melancholy drove him to tears, blurring his vision.

No...Don't go. You're the first person I've felt this familiarity to. Don't leave me alone in this world!

Loganel reached out towards the armored man with his blade and simultaneously, Loganel reached out towards the man in a spiritual manner. He yearned that the man stayed, for this man is the person in this world that knew him the best.

Unfortunately, all things must come to an end. With a blade penetrating his torso, the armored man fell back and almost hit the ground if not for Loganel's arm. Loganel knelt down on one knee and used his right hand to support the man's almost nonexistent weight in his arms. The man was surprisingly light, even with the full set of armor that he wore. His existence is just so delicate that Loganel didn't even dare use any more force in his fingers in fear that the man might just dissipate into ashes and fade away from the world.

Loganel closed his eyes as the tears flowed out of his eyes.

"Hey," the man's voice said. It was a powerful voice that was filled with vitality, and it was extremely familiar at the same time.

Loganel opened his eyes to gaze into the darkness around him. He didn't lose his composure nor was he scared. Instead, he calmly looked over his shoulders at the man. There, the person behind him was dressed in the same armor that the man had wore. His gaze softened as he looked at the familiar eyes underneath the helmet.

The man slowly brought his hands up to his helmet, and took it off, revealing a face characterized by its tired, almost dead, set of eyes that radiated a gaze of kindness and gentleness.

"Hello," Loganel whispered as he slowly got up from his kneeling position and rose to his full height. "Nice to meet you, Loganel." He smiled as he looked into the eyes of the man that looked exactly like him, albeit a few years older.

Author's Note:

I'm not gonna say anything else. I'm just gonna let you all speculate.

But I'm still gonna say please vote and post your comments on what you think. Thanks for reading!!! Story ain't over yet.