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”One… Two… Three!”

Her scythe swung down and hit the mental wall I summoned to block.

”One… Two… Three!”

She spun, her black blade shining in the desert sun. My legs flew off the ground, the blade missing my feet by inches.

”One… Two… THREE!”

She moved so fluidly, the scythe shooting up as she jumped, then came crashing down on my protective barrier, sending me flying into the sand. My head felt a bit woozy as I picked myself up, nonchalantly brushing the dirt off.

“I’m so sorry, Brea!!”

I looked up into Zero’s stricken face and nodded. “It’s alright Zero, I’m not hurt. Just a bit dizzy.”

She relaxed slightly, her fearsome scythe hanging loosely at her side. Its blade glinted evilly, I was surprised it didn’t split my head in two. My gaze returned to the girl who was my opponent. She didn’t look fearsome at all, her stance one of which suggested she’d rather be anywhere but here. I agreed, but I couldn’t say that out loud.

“Let’s try again, shall we, Zero?” I asked, my barriers popping back up to protect my skin from harm.

“I-I dunno… Brea umm… I may not be… helping you enough with your training…” she mumbled.

“I doubt that. Rita only said to train with the fighters. It would help me evolve. I suppose she traded me.” I shrugged slightly, staying in my position. Zero looked up at me and sighed as she saw I wouldn’t relent, and straightened her grip on the scythe. “Ready?” I asked. She nodded feebly. “One… two… three!”

The Absol jumped to the side, swinging her scythe low. Her movements were methodical as if she was rehearsing them all in her head. I floated up to dodge her scythe, then had to quickly focus my psychic energy to stop the scythe. It felt like a jab to my mind as her scythe pressed against the energy, Zero straining to push through. I gasped and jumped back as the scythe broke through the energy, swinging down and getting caught in the ground.

Getting control over my breathing, I went back over to Zero as she struggled to pull the scythe out of the earth. “That was very good, Zero,” I said, massaging my temple as a dull throbbing assaulted my head.

She looked up nervously, her scythe still stuck in the ground. “U-Umm t-thank you umm…”

“You know… something you could do is channel your dark energy into your scythe, then I would have no chance to block your attacks,” I mused, pushing my glasses back up the bridge of my nose.

“Umm! B-But that would…”

“Unless you’re doing that already. Then I would have a much stronger psychic ability than most, which may not be that far-fetched.”

“Mhmmm….” I looked down at her, noticing she was still struggling. With a twitch of my finger I triggered Psychic and pulled the scythe out. She mumbled her thanks, holding onto the scythe.

“Want to try it?” I asked, preparing my mind for the next attack.

“U-Using dark energy… on you?”

“Yes, we need to see if I can handle that. If I’m going to spend a few days in Dezzaviit then I might as well do everything to test my ability.”

“M-Maybe… if you umm… focus more on dodging… then you don’t have to waste your umm… psychic energy? …on blocking… and… you can use it to attack… umm…” she stammered, glancing at me then away.

I narrowed my eyes slightly at the thought. Yes that was true, I wasted countless energy on these training sessions to block, and usually only produced feeble attacks. I never focused on the physical side of fighting, which I figured was useless to mages because they use magic. Similarly, how Zero focuses mainly on physical attacks, as she’s a fighter and doesn’t dabble in magic. Usually.

“Yes, Zero, that could be quite good. You focus on channeling your energy, and I focus more on dodging, therefore we have… traded our methods, therefore completing my mission to evolve. At least that’s how I interpreted it. Come on then!” I floated slightly off the ground, readying myself for her new attack. She sighed slightly, looking down at her scythe. I saw the hesitation in her eyes, but then it turned to concentration. I smiled as she tapped into her innate abilities, her scythe seeming to grow darker. I floated to the side, sensing the energy, and sensing how ineffective my magic would be against it. As Zero suggested, in this case I would certainly have to know how to dodge well.

“R-ready…” she muttered. I could see the concentration in her eyes, and the determination to get this right. I nodded once, then shot Psychic energy at her. It hit her scythe hard, bouncing off of it and causing Zero to only loose her balance, where before, it would have caused her to drop the weapon.

“Come on Zero!” I said, keeping her in focus. She regained her composure and jumped at me, a trail of dark powers streaming behind the scythe. I calculated her movements and projectory as she jumped, feeling an increase in my mind’s capabilities. Teleporting only a small amount, I appeared at her side, throwing another psychic at her. I felt a barrier around her mind, no doubt from the dark energy she was tapping into and she seemed to sense me, turning just the right amount to swing her scythe into my gut. I teleported again, this time to the back, but quickly had to flip back as her scythe met me again.

It continued in this fashion for a few moments, and I then started to use Psychic on the ground around her, hoping for her to loose her balance, as my psychic abilities couldn’t touch her. Knowing I couldn’t have summoned this much energy if I had blocked every one of her swings with my mind, and knowing that she couldn’t have been going this long if not focusing on her powers and not on how well she’s doing, this mission was not wasted.

Sand suddenly burst from under her as her scythe swung at my neck, enveloping the girl and weapon both. I teleported to the side and the sand died down, revealing a coughing Zero trying to rub dirt out of her eyes. She blinked a few times, then frowned strangely at me. “What is it? That was very good, if I don’t say so myself.”

“You… you look different…” Then she smiled, one of the few smiles I had ever seen on her face. “Congratulations, Brea. You evolved!” I returned the smile, glad I had found this friend of mine.

Description
”One… Two… Three!”

Her scythe swung down and hit the mental wall I summoned to block.

”One… Two… Three!”

She spun, her black blade shining in the desert sun. My legs flew off the ground, the blade missing my feet by inches.

”One… Two… THREE!”

She moved so fluidly, the scythe shooting up as she jumped, then came crashing down on my protective barrier, sending me flying into the sand. My head felt a bit woozy as I picked myself up, nonchalantly brushing the dirt off.

“I’m so sorry, Brea!!”

I looked up into Zero’s stricken face and nodded. “It’s alright Zero, I’m not hurt. Just a bit dizzy.”

She relaxed slightly, her fearsome scythe hanging loosely at her side. Its blade glinted evilly, I was surprised it didn’t split my head in two. My gaze returned to the girl who was my opponent. She didn’t look fearsome at all, her stance one of which suggested she’d rather be anywhere but here. I agreed, but I couldn’t say that out loud.

“Let’s try again, shall we, Zero?” I asked, my barriers popping back up to protect my skin from harm.

“I-I dunno… Brea umm… I may not be… helping you enough with your training…” she mumbled.

“I doubt that. Rita only said to train with the fighters. It would help me evolve. I suppose she traded me.” I shrugged slightly, staying in my position. Zero looked up at me and sighed as she saw I wouldn’t relent, and straightened her grip on the scythe. “Ready?” I asked. She nodded feebly. “One… two… three!”

The Absol jumped to the side, swinging her scythe low. Her movements were methodical as if she was rehearsing them all in her head. I floated up to dodge her scythe, then had to quickly focus my psychic energy to stop the scythe. It felt like a jab to my mind as her scythe pressed against the energy, Zero straining to push through. I gasped and jumped back as the scythe broke through the energy, swinging down and getting caught in the ground.

Getting control over my breathing, I went back over to Zero as she struggled to pull the scythe out of the earth. “That was very good, Zero,” I said, massaging my temple as a dull throbbing assaulted my head.

She looked up nervously, her scythe still stuck in the ground. “U-Umm t-thank you umm…”

“You know… something you could do is channel your dark energy into your scythe, then I would have no chance to block your attacks,” I mused, pushing my glasses back up the bridge of my nose.

“Umm! B-But that would…”

“Unless you’re doing that already. Then I would have a much stronger psychic ability than most, which may not be that far-fetched.”

“Mhmmm….” I looked down at her, noticing she was still struggling. With a twitch of my finger I triggered Psychic and pulled the scythe out. She mumbled her thanks, holding onto the scythe.

“Want to try it?” I asked, preparing my mind for the next attack.

“U-Using dark energy… on you?”

“Yes, we need to see if I can handle that. If I’m going to spend a few days in Dezzaviit then I might as well do everything to test my ability.”

“M-Maybe… if you umm… focus more on dodging… then you don’t have to waste your umm… psychic energy? …on blocking… and… you can use it to attack… umm…” she stammered, glancing at me then away.

I narrowed my eyes slightly at the thought. Yes that was true, I wasted countless energy on these training sessions to block, and usually only produced feeble attacks. I never focused on the physical side of fighting, which I figured was useless to mages because they use magic. Similarly, how Zero focuses mainly on physical attacks, as she’s a fighter and doesn’t dabble in magic. Usually.

“Yes, Zero, that could be quite good. You focus on channeling your energy, and I focus more on dodging, therefore we have… traded our methods, therefore completing my mission to evolve. At least that’s how I interpreted it. Come on then!” I floated slightly off the ground, readying myself for her new attack. She sighed slightly, looking down at her scythe. I saw the hesitation in her eyes, but then it turned to concentration. I smiled as she tapped into her innate abilities, her scythe seeming to grow darker. I floated to the side, sensing the energy, and sensing how ineffective my magic would be against it. As Zero suggested, in this case I would certainly have to know how to dodge well.

“R-ready…” she muttered. I could see the concentration in her eyes, and the determination to get this right. I nodded once, then shot Psychic energy at her. It hit her scythe hard, bouncing off of it and causing Zero to only loose her balance, where before, it would have caused her to drop the weapon.

“Come on Zero!” I said, keeping her in focus. She regained her composure and jumped at me, a trail of dark powers streaming behind the scythe. I calculated her movements and projectory as she jumped, feeling an increase in my mind’s capabilities. Teleporting only a small amount, I appeared at her side, throwing another psychic at her. I felt a barrier around her mind, no doubt from the dark energy she was tapping into and she seemed to sense me, turning just the right amount to swing her scythe into my gut. I teleported again, this time to the back, but quickly had to flip back as her scythe met me again.

It continued in this fashion for a few moments, and I then started to use Psychic on the ground around her, hoping for her to loose her balance, as my psychic abilities couldn’t touch her. Knowing I couldn’t have summoned this much energy if I had blocked every one of her swings with my mind, and knowing that she couldn’t have been going this long if not focusing on her powers and not on how well she’s doing, this mission was not wasted.

Sand suddenly burst from under her as her scythe swung at my neck, enveloping the girl and weapon both. I teleported to the side and the sand died down, revealing a coughing Zero trying to rub dirt out of her eyes. She blinked a few times, then frowned strangely at me. “What is it? That was very good, if I don’t say so myself.”

“You… you look different…” Then she smiled, one of the few smiles I had ever seen on her face. “Congratulations, Brea. You evolved!” I returned the smile, glad I had found this friend of mine.