The next area was a large training hall. Banners, depicting mages and knights drawn with a golden tint, hung on the walls. I glanced upward and saw a beautiful glass ceiling, its panels forming an unfamiliar symbol. A rapier blade, with a ruby embedded in the hilt, emerged from a magical oval. Rhombuses, representing light beams, surrounded the weapon. the An eleven-sided polygon, each of its sides a different shade of blue, was inscribed inside the oval.
“You know what that’s suppose to be?” I opened my grimoire to identify the symbol.
“Nope, first time seeing anything like that. Pretty sure Jin would know right away if he was with us,” Shan answered, taking a photo of the ceiling.
“It’s pretty. Must have cost a lot to build,” Champ commented.
“Nothing’s showing up in my grimoire. I don’t sense anyone in here either,” I reported.
“Hang on, I’m getting a weird vibe from the ceiling. Oh no, it’s absorbing our magic!” he said, pushing his glasses up onto his forehead.
“Yuki, should I shoot?” Jen readied her bow, notching an arrow onto it.
Before I could respond, shadowy figures surrounded us. They lacked faces but did have long arms and massive hands. One of them fired their right arm at me but Shan knocked it back with a swing of his tennis racquet. Its hand became caught in the racquet strings before a ball of darkness consumed the gravity manipulator’s weapon. Shan immediately released his grip on the racquet as the shadow stole the weapon from him. Champ pulled out a pair of scissors and snipped the air. The shadow dropped the racquet and Shan retrieved it with his powers.
“Thanks Champ, you’re actually useful,” Shan said, wailing on the shadow with his racquet.
“I have a feeling your words aren’t sincere at all. However, I will still accept them, believing that you do have a shred of decency,” Champ responded, cutting apart the shadows with his scissor.
“Come on, give me more credit. We’re temporary teammates after all,” Shan protested, delivering a roundhouse kick that cleaved another shadow’s head.
“Champ, where’s the weakness on these things?” I fired a beam of ice at their torsos but my attack didn’t damage the shadow enemies at all.
“There’s a sweet spot on their head. That’s probably the core. Shan, I think your description of it will be better than mine,” Champ answered, dodging a shadow’s punch.
The gravity manipulator pushed a shadow toward me and then whacked its head with the racquet handle base. Oh, that spot! After two minutes, we defeated all the shadows but the ceiling was still an issue. Was it really the correct choice to destroy the ceiling?
“Jen, shoot up the ceiling. We’ll deal with the enemy that shows up. I’m already regretting this,” I decided, seeing no other way to proceed.
She nodded and fired two arrows, shattering the ceiling. I constructed a magical barrier, protecting us from the falling glass shards. When the final piece landed, an intense beam of light steamed through the gaping hole and a person emerged from it.
“What a mess. Took me months to make that. Just the four of you, huh? Okay, let me think about who I want to face first,” a man in his early forties said and pulled out a sketchbook.
He wore a gray smock, paint splatters and remnants of clay on it. His orange colored beard covered a large portion of his face and a lit cigarette was in between his lips. For now, he showed no hostility towards us, busy drawing sketches of each of us.
“If only Jacque was here right now, this would be amazing,” Shan remarked, taking photos of the broken ceiling glass.
“You’re really not concerned at all, huh?” I observed the man finish his sketch of Shan.
“Yuki, I’m always concerned, it’s just not the right time yet. I’m sure our new friend would agree, right?” Shan walked over to the presumed artist.
“Whatever you say. I gotta capture the essence of everyone and that takes time,” the man replied, focused on his art.
“There you have it. He’s not an enemy so no reason to be super cautious, right? But when it’s time to fight, I won’t take him lightly,” Shan explained.
“You kids are really giving off an interesting aura. This is what an artist like me lives for!” the man continued his drawing with excitement.
“He’s pretty strong,” Champ whispered to me.
“I figured. You able to tell any of his weaknesses?” I questioned.
“No, I haven’t discovered anything yet. There’s something preventing me from reading him fully. I assume it’s the difference in power between him and myself,” Champ answered.
“You’re exactly right. Strong enemies are hard to analyze. Can’t really do anything until you start fighting them,” Shan agreed.
Thirty minutes later, the man completed his sketches of everyone. He pulled out a small hammer and nails from his back pocket. Pinning his drawings to a nearby wall, he rubbed his chin and stared at them with intense scrutiny. I just always ran into weirdos every time. The man removed my picture and then Jen’s. He stared at the remaining two sketches before painting a red X on Champ’s face.
“Ah-hah! This man is worthy of being my opponent!” he tore the sketch off the wall and rushed over to us with a huge smile.
“Good luck, Champ,” Shan said, his words lacking any sincerity.
“This could be a problem. He’s still pretty new,” Jen said, concern on her face.
“People know me as the wandering artist called “Apollo”. Young man, what should I address you as?” Apollo extended his ink-stained hand out towards Champ.
“That’s a surprising name. My name is Champ Shinji. A pleasure, I guess,” Champ said, staring at the artist’s hand with suspicion.
“Fear not, young man, I won’t perform any under-handed deeds. The fight has yet to start after all,” Apollo assured him.
Champ hesitated but finally shook his opponent’s hand. Once their hands made contact, a burst of light surrounded them and an artificial battle dimension was created. Champ jumped back as Apollo swung a punch at him. Clumps of clay flew out from the artist’s palm but the hero destroyed them with his scissors.
“Your reflexes are much sharper than I anticipated. I assumed that as a bookworm, you wouldn’t react so fast,” Apollo said, hurling a bottle of paint onto the ground.
Did he know about Champ’s background or just guess correctly? Smoke wafted from the paint splatter and then a rainbow colored blob formed from it. The blob transformed into a spear and targeted the hero’s heart. Champ switched out his scissors for a white eraser and slid underneath the spear. The edge of his eraser touched the back half of the opponent and then the blob disintegrated back into paint. Champ remained on the ground, slapping his legs in frustration.
“I’m surprised he even pulled that off. Really bad time to get cramps though,” Shan commented.
Champ finally recovered but Apollo landed a solid kick to his forehead. The artist pulled out a paintbrush and dipped in into a glass container. As his brush neared Champ’s head, it suddenly crumbled into wood chips and thin strands of plastic. Champ drove his knee into Apollo’s stomach and then clutched it in pain afterwards. He was definitely learning from Lionel but his execution of the attacks weren’t polished yet.
“He’s really trying his best. I think he can do this!” Jen said.
Apollo pulled out a tiny notepad and opened it up. An intense burst of light shot out from the page and a three-headed Doberman appeared. It wore a worn leather collar with sharp metal studs and silver armor covering its entire body. The middle head opened its mouth, unleashing a stream of fire. Champ rolled out of the way and brandished his pair of scissors at the new enemy. The dog hurtled towards the man, ready to take a bite out of him. Champ leaped away and snipped in the direction of the dog’s armor with his scissors. The armor was split in half and dropped to the ground before turning into pieces of ore. Champ grabbed a piece of the ore, narrowly avoiding the enemy’s sharp teeth, and it transformed into a sword.
“Cool trick. Does he know how to use it?” Shan watched Champ dodge another fire attack.
Champ slid again and plunged his blade into the dog’s underside. The embedded sword then transformed into a dozen small daggers, piercing the enemy from their neck all the way to its tail. The three-headed dog toppled to the ground, turning into a crumpled piece of paper five seconds later.
“Impressive. Okay, you’re free to go! I’ve seen enough,” Apollo decided, shutting down the battle dimension with a clap.
“Really?” I didn’t trust him.
“Why not? I’m just someone they hired. I don’t care about how things turn out for them. Young man, we’ll meet again. Your powers should be developed by then so I look forward to our rematch!” Apollo declared before disappearing with a hearty laugh.
A magnificent staircase, each of its glass steps transparent and shimmering with a faint glow, curved upward in a helix beyond the destroyed ceiling. Before, there was a powerful magic preventing any further progress beyond the ceiling. Now, I could see a room at the top.
“I want to try running up this thing!” Champ exclaimed, testing out his footing on the first step.
“I’m definitely not saving you if something happens. Keep an eye on him, Yuki!” Shan deferred all responsibility over to me.
We made our way up to the top without any issues. Thanks to tagging along with Ichizen on several minor climbing expeditions, I didn’t have a fear of heights, but it was still unnerving to ascend without anything to hold on despite having powers. I could have just floated all the way up but like Champ, I was interested in the experience of going up via the stairs.
“We’re close to the switch,” Champ revealed as we all arrived up top.
“I’ll check how everyone else is doing,” Shan decided, moving to the corner of the room.
“You think these are safe to eat?” Champ picked up a cookie from a table in the center of the area.
“I wouldn’t,” I replied, inspecting the painting hanging above the lit fireplace.
This one was done in the same style as Princess Fei’s but I didn’t recognize the person depicted this time. It was an old man, wearing a monocle over his left eye, and he wore a grandiose military uniform adorned with seven golden medal. He was bald and his waxed moustache gave off the impression of a movie villain.
“Guess I shouldn’t be surprised to find a painting of him here too,” Shan remarked, standing next to me now.
”Someone you know personally?” I noticed a lapel pin with an engraving of two cannons facing each other.
“He’s one of the masterminds behind the magical cannons that messed up Za’ard. Jin and Long are already in place so we should get moving,” Shan answered, heading over to the exit.
It was probably a long story since Shan didn’t go into more details. For now, the focus was getting to the switch. Any questions I had could wait until next time. Outside of the room was a long hallway with no end in sight.
“Champ, you detect anything?” I questioned, taking the lead.
“Nothing dangerous. Everything is coming in a little warped. I assume it’s because we’re so close to the switch,” he replied, placing his right hand on the wall.
“Yuki, I’m ready if any enemies show up!” Jen assured me.
“Hey Shan, you’ve been quiet since you saw the painting. Is it bothering you?” I questioned.
“Nah, I’m good. They have interesting taste, picking those kind of people,” Shan replied, shaking his head.
”Hang on, there’s somebody here. They’re approaching really fast!” Champ informed us.
Before I could ask about an estimated time of arrival, a person clad in medieval armor appeared in front of us. They carried a sleek lance and pointed the weapon at Shan. Damn, I was a bit disappointed it wasn’t me.
“Shan Shigetzu!” they called out his name.
“That’s me. You sure you got the right person? Tomo Yuki and Champ Shinji are here too,” Shan pointed at us.
“No, you are the chosen opponent for this round. Your allies will watch in the background!” the person declared, stomping their foot on the ground to construct a battle dimension.
“Hang on, I think we know each other,” Shan declared, knocking away his opponent’s lance with a smooth swing of his tennis racquet.
“That was then and this is now!” his masked opponent responded, thrusting his lance into the air.
