The magic circle’s rotation speed increased, spinning so fast it was a blur to my eyes. Ten lightning strikes hit the circumference as sparks of electricity flew out from the interior. The Knight’s Guild member vanished and a large mecha appeared in his place. Its exterior was a sleek gray chrome color and its overall appearance resembled a medieval knight. Air expelled out from its head as the helmet visor rose up, revealing a pair of glowing triangular golden eyes. A sword materialized mid-air and the mecha grabbed it with its left hand.
“Guess it was a matter of time before the Stellar Foundation started building magical mechas,” Kuan commented as he stared at the glowing golden light in the center of the contraption’s chest piece.
“That’s the core and also the cockpit. A powerful barrier is surrounding it,” Champ revealed.
“Jin, I’ll offer you the chance to surrender as a courtesy. But I already know your answer,” the voice of the Knight’s Guild member boomed from the middle of the machine’s head.
“Yep. How long did the Stellar Foundation spend working on this thing?” Kisai pointed upward.
“It’s been a year since we gathered the parts from Za’ard. The magical cannon was only a small part of our plans, although it is frustrating to see them malfunction,” the knight replied.
“Ten minutes. That’s how much time it’ll take me to dismantle a year of development,” Kisai declared, pointing his glowing purple curved sword at the mecha.
“Typical Jin to say something crazy he’ll definitely pull off,” Ichaival remarked, shaking his head.
“Your big mouth is going to get you in trouble one of these days, Jin. You have to admit it’s a little far fetched for you to say that. The Stellar Foundation’s development is the best, even if I disagree with their methods and goals,” the knight responded.
“Nah, pretty easy to do if you know what you’re doing. By the way, they have a name for this thing yet?” Kisai flew into the air and traveled towards the mecha’s right shoulder.
“They’re referring to it as the Gawain model. I’m not particularly fond of the name but this thing packs a punch so I’ll let it slide,” the knight answered, swinging his giant sword at Kisai.
“Hey Kuan, what’s the knight’s name?” Champ questioned as Kisai dodged.
The hero landed on Gawain’s blade and fired off a tiny red bolt at the hilt. Seconds later, flames engulfed the entire blade and Kisai swapped his sword out for a sledgehammer. With two swings, the blade crumpled and an orange light surrounded it. Kisai snapped his fingers and Gawain’s sword turned into a lance. The weapon flew out of the mecha’s grasp and floated in the air before whizzing towards Gawain’s core. A blue light surrounded the left gauntlet before it obliterated the lance with a single punch. Kisai, a grin on his face, landed back on the ground.
“Lance. No wonder he’s pissed about the machine’s name,” Kuan answered, folding his arms.
“Oh, you were thinking the same thing I was. Definitely on purpose, right?” Champ jotted down notes in his notepad.
“Yeah, it’s the Stellar Foundation so no surprise there,” Kuan replied.
Another sword, smaller than the previous one, appeared in its left hand. Gawain sliced sideways, almost striking Kisai, missing the man by centimeters. The hero drenched the left gauntlet in water before smacking the area with a bo staff. Bursts of wind accompanied each strike and a thick layer of rust formed. With a flick of his weapon, Kisai tore off the gauntlet, revealing wires carrying magical energy. A purple light surrounded the magic user’s hand as he ripped the wires out of the machine. Gawain’s right arm malfunctioned, rotating around, increasing in speed until finally flying off ten seconds later. Kisai returned to the ground and snapped his fingers again. Two medium explosions occurred at the mecha’s knees and forced the large machine to kneel on the ground. The golden light on the chest piece dimmed, flickering on and off.
“Curse you Jin! Don’t get cocky just yet!” Lance shouted as the golden light on Gawain’s chest piece grew brighter.
A yellow sphere formed around Gawain and his right arm regenerated. The mecha stood back up and its exterior showed no signs of damage. Kisai sighed and bounded upward once more with the assistance of his staff. He surged towards the left gauntlet before suddenly switching directions. The hero landed on its right shoulder and wielded a scythe now.
“Come on, Lance, you really think I’m that dumb to target the same place again?” Kisai swung his scythe and the weapon head flew towards the mecha’s left arm.
Gawain’s left hand flew upward in an attempt to brush the hero off of its shoulder. The magic user’s scythe head wrapped around the mecha’s left arm and he yanked backwards. This caused Gawain to slap his own head and sparks flew from the visor area. Kisai dove downward, still controlling the movement of the mecha’s left arm. When the hero landed, he succeeded in ripping off the left arm this time.
“The Stellar Foundation really f***** up this time. They left too many exploits on this thing,” Kisai said, swapping back to his purple blade.
He hurled his sword at Gawain’s sparking arm socket. His blade pierced the outer edge, vibrating after landing. A magic circle rotated around the hero’s blade, infusing his weapon with energy. Kisai performed a finger gun and detonated the magical energy stored within his blade. Gawain convulsed, leaking magical energy throughout his entire body. The chest piece light turned off as did the ones on his triangular eyes. A huge explosion occurred and the mecha’s body was ripped apart. Disfigured parts of Gawain’s mechanical body flew into the air, landing around us. The Knight Guild leader plummeted from the sky and he crash-landed into the tower wall.
“Kuan, less than ten minutes right?” Kisai ignored Lance and walked over to his friend.
“Six minutes and two seconds,” Kuan answered as he tapped his glasses.
“Damn, could have done it in five if he didn’t heal. You’re next, right?” Kisai shouted, pointing his finger forward.
“I thought I fully concealed myself. There’s still a lot of work to do,” a man said, appearing in front of the magic user.
He was younger than Lance, heavy bags underneath his eyes. The man wore a customized white lab coat, the Stellar Foundation logo on its right breast pocket and multiple pens tucked inside of it. His disheveled hair and crooked posture made him appear normal compared to the other opponents we fought at the fortress previously.
“I heard from Q and Codex about Tomo Yuki. She might have more potential than you, Jin,” the man stated, glancing over at me with a small smile.
“She’s getting there. I didn’t think you would actually show up and fight me yourself,” Kisai responded, twirling his purple blade around.
“If it’s for data, the Stellar Foundation is willing to do anything. You know that better than anyone, Jin. I guess I should introduce myself to your friends. I’m the head researcher of the 1st Division and also president of the Stellar Foundation, Qi,” he introduced himself.
“You usually like going last. Must mean those two have something big planned to f*** me up, huh?” Kisai pointed his blade at Qi with a smile.
“Who knows? I’m just here to test out my new creations and gather important combat data to improve them. Are you prepared, Jin?” Qi threw off his lab coat, revealing a black shirt with thin pulsating crisscrossing lines.
“Let’s go!” Kisai stepped forward with his left foot and a small magical circle appeared underneath his basketball shoes.
He teleported to Qi’s backside, stabbing his glimmering blade downward at the man’s neck. Qi, standing still, raised his left hand. Kisai’s purple sword shattered but that didn’t deter the hero from continuing his attack. He directed his glowing palm at the researcher’s back but was repelled. Kisai leaped back and materialized a scythe. He swung it and the scythe head flew towards Qi’s neck, curving at the last second, before striking the man’s chest. The ground rumbled and vines burst out from the ground. They wrapped around the hero’s leg and slammed him into the ground face first. Kisai chopped the vines with his left hand and burnt them to a crisp.
“Still versatile as ever, Jin. However, I know most of your tricks!” Qi protected himself with a spherical barrier.
Kisai swapped his scythe out for an ax and destroyed Qi’s barrier with a single swing of his weapon. He aimed for the researcher’s left shoulder but the bottom half of his legs turned into stone. I detected no elevated magic levels from Qi since the start of the battle. These attacks must be a result of the new Stellar Foundation technology we discovered during our investigation. The hero flung his ax at Qi, a burst of wind speeding the weapon up. Qi held his left hand out and neutralized the wind. He caught the weapon and converted it into magical energy.
“Still can’t use any weapons properly, President Qi?” Kisai aimed at the researcher’s stomach with his spear before yanking it back.
Kisai stabbed his spear into the air multiple times, not targeting Qi. What was his plan? A large gust of wind, in the form of a drill, sped towards the hero. When it was centimeters away from striking him, the wind died out and Kisai absorbed it into his weapon. He launched the spear upward and Qi immediately raised his left hand. The spear broke apart but Kisai only grinned in response. Ah, so that was his plan. Five seconds later, five daggers pierced Qi’s body. Two of them were lodged in his ankle and the remaining three struck his chest. The Stellar Foundation president fell to his knees and coughed up blood.
“Hey Jin, I’m doing just fine over here!” Qi, uninjured, waved at him from the rooftop ledge.
“Cool trick. Something felt wrong when my attack landed,” Kisai acknowledged.
Qi leaped upward, avoiding a flame stream. The stream shot upward, appearing to consume the researcher, but he escaped without any burns. Kisai was frozen in place as golden sparks of electricity crackled around him. This didn’t perturb the hero though as he just grinned in response to his predicament. The Stellar Foundation president suddenly clutched his chest in pain and spat out blood.
“Your poison is still deadly as ever, Jin,” Qi said, shaking his head.
“Not as good as your resistance to it,” Kisai responded as he moved again.
Golden streaks plummeted from the sky. As they approached the ground, I recognized them as electrified comets. Kisai flew into the air and landed on one of the comets. One stomp of his foot removed the electric exterior and he rode it towards Qi.
“Guess I gotta get a little serious now,” Kisai decided, leaping off at the last second.
The comet broke apart into glimmering pieces of stone, hovering in the air above Kisai. I expected him to send the stones flying towards Qi but instead the hero converted them into magical energy. The energy converged into a snow leopard that bounded toward Qi.
“That’s my first time seeing him use a familiar. Is that rare for him to do?” I felt the temperature drop.
“I’ve only seen it a couple of times. Jin’s the type of person to show off when he feels like it. This is one of those times,” Kuan answered.
Patches of ice formed every time the snow leopard’s feet touched the ground. Qi fired off a barrage of flaming daggers at the beast but it leaped high into the air to avoid them. The daggers honed in on the creature but water flfew out of the ice patches, extinguishing the blade’s flames. Kisai’s familiar swatted away the blades with its tail and launched itself towards Qi’s chest. The snow leopard crashed into a barrier and growled at the man. Qi clapped his hands together and a portal opened up near the animal, dragging the beast into it. The snow leopard didn’t resist and disappeared from sight once the portal closed.
Five seconds later, the snow leopard reappeared, tackling Qi from behind. Kisai’s familiar wrapped its tail around the man’s neck and pinned the researcher to the ground with its front paws. Ice formed on Qi’s back, spreading throughout his entire body, until he was completely frozen. The snow leopard released its hold on the Stellar Foundation president and sparkles of light appeared on the surface of its skin. When Kisai dashed over, the snow leopard changed forms, and appeared as a halberd in the magic user’s right hand.
“Game over for Qi,” Darryl commented as his friend swung the halberd downward.
His attack shattered the ice encasing Qi. Kisai followed up with multiple stabs, always pulling back at the last second before making contact. Oh, he was breaking the defensive traps Qi set up in the air. With another swing of his weapon, the hero unleashed a burst of wind that caused Qi to stand upright again. He dissipated his halberd and rammed his right hand into the researcher’s chest. Kisai left behind a deep, glowing hand imprint.
“Devouring Hand. Jin wasn’t kidding about getting serious,” Kuan remarked.
Typically, the flow of magic was difficult to see, and impossible for someone with no aptitude. However, Kisai’s attack was different. Visible magical energy flowed out from Qi and gathered at the palm imprint. The stored energy flew towards Kisai’s right hand, causing a bright light to envelop it. Appearing behind Qi, the magic user chopped his neck. The Stellar Foundation president collapsed to the floor, knocked out cold.
“Two down, two more to go. Still too scared to show your faces or just stalling to figure out how to beat me?” Kisai stared upward at the sky.
“We’ve seen enough. How about we take care of your little friends first?” a booming voice responded.
