Several weeks have passed since we started using aetherium on a daily basis. Elyra sent each of us a route from our homes to our respective schools. It was a much longer route than our normal journey, and Elyra also took us through more dangerous areas. My route took me through the mountains, for example, while Kael, who lives in a city, traveled from building to building. We all had our own unique route that was adapted to the environment in which we lived.
After a few weeks, using aetherium became second nature to us. It must be said that it has been almost a year since we began our training. Every day, without a single day of rest, we trained our aetherium within ourselves.
Elyra announced, "It seems that you are now using the aetherium optimally. You have mastered it sufficiently now; I would say that you are at the level of young heroes."
Shinrei spoke up. "It's thanks to our hard work. Honestly, we've all given it our all these past few months. But Elyra, we also have to thank you. If it weren't for you, your advice, and the program you prepared especially for us, we would never have progressed so quickly."
We stepped forward to tell Elyra. "Thank you so much!" If we've been able to get this far, it's thanks to the support she's given us since day one. We were all very grateful to her for what she does.
"Your sincerity makes me very happy. I will support you as best I can until the very end. I am very grateful to the Yuutaka family for everything I have experienced since I was created by our father."
For all of us, our daily lives have changed dramatically. For me, my brothers, and my sister, we have seen our everyday lives change for the better. Since that day, each day has been more rewarding than the last and more fun. By finding each other, we found ourselves. But for Elyra too, even though she is only an AI, she is able to feel emotions. For Elyra, loneliness must weigh heavily on her during the weeks and weekends, so she is very happy to see us together. She must be happy with her new life with us, as can be seen from her unmistakable expressions.
"Now you must learn hand-to-hand combat, but also mastery of your elemental aetherium. Without that, you will achieve nothing in battle."
Elyra explained how the coming weeks would unfold. "Luckily, we're entering your school vacation period. So you'll have more free time to train. First, hand-to-hand combat: here is a hologram I programmed myself, with the aim of training you in hand-to-hand combat. It will teach you the basics of hand-to-hand combat and show you the style that suits you best, taking into account the abilities your elemental aetherium offers you. As for elemental aetherium, I have been working on programs for several months now to help you master elemental aetherium quickly and effectively. I'll tell you more about that later, but let's start with hand-to-hand combat first."
Once Elyra has finished speaking, we begin teaching hand-to-hand combat together. First, we learned the basics of combat using the hologram. We copied the hologram's movements to learn the body movements we needed to perform. After that, our bodies became more accustomed to the sudden or simple movements we needed to make. We continued like this for several days with the same training style.
According to Elyra, "this training is based on your body's ability to adapt to what it is shown. It is a simple method for you to learn the art of hand-to-hand combat quickly and effectively. After being forced to perform feats it has never done before, your body will memorize them so that it can adapt to the changes imposed on it. For now, this will be more than enough for you. Of course, later on you will need to train harder to perfect your hand-to-hand combat skills."
This method may seem absurd, but it must be said that the results appear quickly. We were able to fight very fluidly in hand-to-hand combat against the hologram.
After her mastery of hand-to-hand combat began to prove itself, Elyra contacted us one by one to talk. She spoke to Kael at his home in the evening via the bracelets, contacting him with an audio call.
"Kael? Good evening, I hope I'm not disturbing you.
"No, don't worry, I wasn't doing anything special. Did you want to talk to me about something?"
"Yes, I wanted to talk to you about your training in mastering elemental aetherium. I'll talk to you one by one, so I'm contacting you to discuss it. As you already know, you have mastered Force. This means that, compared to your brothers and sisters, you will specialize entirely in hand-to-hand combat, because the Force aetherium will greatly strengthen your body, allowing you to attack very powerfully and directly while remaining secure on the defensive side."
At the same time, Elyra was talking to each of us about our respective elemental aetherium.
Harris's turn. "Harris, you have mastered one of the main elemental aetheriums, that of wind. Your fighting style will be more focused on support. Mastering wind allows you to attack, defend, and support your teammates in battle. The greater your mastery of wind, the more versatile you will be."
Shinrei. "You have mastered the elemental aetherium of speed. This gives you the ability to move very quickly. The more you train, the faster you will be able to run. From a combat perspective, it is clear that your power is more geared towards support. During combat, your role will mainly be to support your brothers and sister and put them in the best positions. It will be up to you, but the way you use your power could prove useful in combat, depending on how you perceive your power."
In Aria's room, Elyra explained. "Miss Aria, as I have already told you, you have mastered the same magic as your mother. AETHERIS, the original form of aetherium, is a very rare art mastered only by your mother's clan, which unfortunately disappeared a few years ago. Nowadays, aetherium is used by heroes mainly and exclusively to enhance their physical abilities. But your mother's clan, the Aetheris clan, was able to use aetherium by materializing it outside the body. They were then able to use it to cast spells based not on elemental aetherium but on aetherium itself. Fortunately, we have a wealth of information about aetheris at our disposal, thanks to your mother, so your training will not be a problem."
"Nozomi, you find yourself in a unique situation. It seems that you have been chosen to be the next elemental master. We have no information about elemental masters, so it is impossible for us to train you properly. However, we can try methods to train you to use your elemental aetherium. We cannot guarantee that it will work, but it is always better to try than to do nothing."
"It's okay, Elyra, it's not your fault. We'll try to find a solution. There must be a way, or someone who can teach me how to use elemental power!"
Elyra left us to rest after saying what she needed to say. The serious stuff was about to begin; we had moved on to practical training and were no longer just learning theory. I guess the others fell asleep quickly so they could be in good shape the next day. I had trouble falling asleep. "Elyra's words haunt my mind."
After many discussions with the others, I discovered that I was the only one who had these strange dreams frequently. For the others, it was Elyra who contacted them in their dreams when the time came, just as she had done to me on the day I had seen the cabin so clearly.
So something else was interfering with my dreams to tell me something. Was it the elemental power that had been trying to talk to me all this time? All those blurry visions I had seen, "is that the future? There is something inside me calling out to me!
For some reason, I focused on my core, and that's when I saw it. My elemental aetherium core, much larger than my own core, the aetherium being almost five times bigger, impressed me at the time. Perhaps it was because this was the first time I had seriously thought about my power that I was able to see it. But in any case, I had taken a step toward understanding my power.
A week has passed since then, and Elyra is preparing a training session with the five of us included.
"You now seem to be very comfortable with hand-to-hand combat. You are now able to fight, defend yourselves, and fight back. From now on, I want you to fight each other. You certainly know how to fight, but now, do you know how to fight against a real person in a real arena?"
Even though we know how to fight, we have never fought against a real person. The goal of this training is to gain combat experience and get used to the real-time combat environment.
We stand in a pentagon-shaped area enclosed by a barrier so we can't leave, each at one of the corners, waiting for Elyra to start.
Let's begin!
No one made a move, everyone was on guard. Harris was the first to advance, running towards Kael without the slightest hesitation. As Harris jumped into the air to follow up with a kick, Kael blocked his blow with his hands before grabbing his leg and sending him flying towards me.
I dodged him and rushed towards Shinrei, who had stayed back. Facing him, I landed numerous blows, but Shinrei managed to take them without any problem. Leaning on his right leg, Shinrei managed to dodge my punch to the left before running away. I didn't have time to run after him before Aria, who was running towards me, jumped over me and landed behind me to kick me. Luckily, I had time to turn around to take the blow before it hit me.
Kael had cornered Shinrei on one side of the arena, but he didn't have time to do anything before Harris came back at him from behind. Kael found himself trapped on both sides, surrounded by Harris and Shinrei. They launched their attack on him at the same time, wanting to take him on together.
As the fight between us continued, Elyra said, "You need to move more! This isn't a 1-on-1 fight, it's a fight against many. You are all enemies in this arena. Attack whoever you want, run away if you feel you are in a weak position, form alliances between enemies to take down the one who is causing trouble, and betray them to claim victory. You must adapt to each situation, constantly evolve, and gather information during combat."
The fights between us continued. Kael and I were comfortable in the arena, while Aria and Harris were gradually adapting. Shinrei stayed on the sidelines, trying not to interfere in the fights.
Was it because he was afraid? Or was he observing so he could act better? But the expression on his face was that of someone who was anything but afraid. He was gathering information so that he would be ready next time. Shinrei is the least capable of fighting among us because of his power. Later, his speed will force him to strike quickly and accurately, making it impossible for him to sustain hand-to-hand combat over the long term. As a result, he must observe to know when to attack and when to retreat. Shinrei had to think hard to reach this conclusion.
After a few minutes, the fighting continued and fatigue began to set in. Everyone was getting tired, and we could feel it in our blows and movements. As I faced Aria, a sudden sensation came over me. My body moved on its own to turn around. Seeing Kael at mid-range, he threw his right fist at my face. Reflexively, I blocked it with one hand. But Kael pulled me toward him and punched me in the stomach with his left fist. Before I had time to understand and react, he followed up with a second punch to my face.
After his second punch, I collapsed to the ground, my body in unbearable pain. My gaze turned to Kael, facing what he had just done. That's when I understood, after my gaze met his. We were like on a battlefield. Here, we were no longer brothers, but enemies fighting for our lives. If I wanted to survive, I had to fight seriously.
I got up, keeping my eyes on him. The tension had increased and the others, faced with what had happened, stood aside, leaving the arena to us alone. They understood that they should not intervene and left us alone.