*While Dust and Alita were busy in Carnivale, Jin was busy hiding from Muta. After falling into the pit, Muta found himself inside some old, abandoned ruins which took the form of a town with destroyed buildings. Muta theorized that the buildings were once the early civilization of Carnivale that were abandoned years ago and buried underneath the sand from storms. It was quite a common occurrence for archeologists to find old ruins buried in the sand around Carnivale. The question was how deep did they have to dig to find them and what would they disturb during their excavations? Muta was walking around slowly, looking for Jin with his right hand emitting sparks of electricity from his claw*
(Muta): It’s useless to hide, knight. I will find you and when I do you’re going to pay for humiliating me in Brister.
*Hearing something off to the side near a slightly destroyed house, Muta moved swiftly and sliced through the building causing it to collapse. Muta didn’t hear any screams and saw a desert mouse squeeze out of the wreckage and scurry away. Muta frowned at what he saw disappointed that it wasn’t Jin*
(Muta): Useless rodent.
*Muta continued walking around looking for Jin not knowing that the house next to the one he just destroyed had Jin cowering underneath a window he used to see Muta level the house next to him*
***
*Returning to the desert under the night sky, Morgan and Ryuuji were fighting for survival against the members of Blood Moon. Morgan was running away from the armadillo demihuman who was rolling around the sand in an electric ball form trying to bulldoze him over. Meanwhile, Ryuuji was trying to find his footing in the sand to combat against the coyote demihuman’s summoned sand snakes. Ryuuji did his best dodging the attacks of the sand snakes while the coyote demihuman continued to play her flute which controlled them. Out of the corner of his eyes he could see Morgan struggling against the armadillo demihuman. Morgan had fired a number of ice shards at the demihuman but they had no effect and weren’t slowing him down. Seeing the ice shards having no effect, Morgan created a giant ice wall to protect himself from the demihuman. The demihuman slammed against the ice wall which seemed to have slowed him down momentarily, but the demihuman kept spinning and eventually broke through the wall. Morgan fell to the ground to avoid getting hit by the demihuman who passed over him, but quickly made a U-turn and headed back toward Morgan who was trying to get up but his left leg was temporarily paralyzed from the electricty. Ryuuji saw Morgan in danger and quickly acted to save him*
(Ryuuji): Fire Grid Form 204: Inferno Dash!
*Fire appeared on the soles of Ryuuji’s shoes as he dashed across the sand just in time to reach Morgan. Extending his hands out Ryuuji caught the armadillo demihuman before he reached him and Morgan and tossed him away. The armadillo undid his ball form and landed in the sand back first. Ryuuji could feel his arms tingling from the electricity and couldn’t lift them up as a sand snake was approaching them. Luckily, Morgan’s paralysis was gone and he quickly got back up to summon an ice spirit with a hand cannon. The ice spirit fired the hand cannon at the sand snake destroying its head and causing the body to fall over in the sand where it started to disappear*
(Ryuuji): Nice save there, Morgan.
(Morgan): Same to you. Are your hands fine?
(Ryuuji): Yeah, I’m starting to get the feeling back. What happened?
(Morgan): It would appear that demihuman’s electricity has some kind of numbing effect.
(Coyote demihuman): Not bad. Was wondering if you would pick up on Block’s electricity powers. Though I’ve never seen anyone recover from them as fast as you two.
(Morgan): And I’ve never seen anyone use a flute as a medium to control and summon spirits. You must have quite the innovative talent to pull that off.
(Block): Obviously. Chloe here is on another level. She studied hard, outworked everyone, and presented her work flawlessly. She was on the fast track to joining a research company to continue her work, but then they turned her down because they couldn’t handle a demihuman being smarter than them. We were born with nothing and worked our asses off to amount to something more and how do you humans respond to that: screw you. You study too hard. You work too hard. You try too hard. You’re making us look bad. I know I’m not the smartest. I know I’m not going to amount to much in this world, but Chloe worked hard to get to where she is and she deserves as much a chance as anyone out there.
(Chloe): Block, cool it. I don’t need their sympathy.
(Ryuuji): Judging by the way you two interact off each other, I say you have history.
(Chloe): Childhood friends to the end. After I was turned down, I came back to Carnivale with no direction until I met back up with Block who invited me into Blood Moon. They recognized my genius. Gave me everything I needed to continue my research and then some. Blood Moon is my family, and I will crush anyone who threatens them.
*Chloe begins playing her flute and the sand shakes beneath them. Ryuuji acts quickly and picks up Morgan to make a run for it. Ryuuji and Morgan escape just in time as sand snakes emerge from the sand*
(Block): Hmph. What a bunch of cowards.
(Chloe): It’s a tactical retreat, dummy. After them!
*Block does a front flip to turn into an electric ball and starts pursuing Ryuuji and Morgan. Chloe follows after him by riding one of her sand snakes*
(Morgan): To think those idiots would turn away such a talented individual.
(Ryuuji): We can worry about that later. Right now, we need a strategy.
(Morgan): We’re at a big disadvantage here. Our enemies are well-versed in desert combat.
(Ryuuji): Meanwhile, our desert combat is pretty minimal. I can’t get a good footing in the desert to unleash my attacks. Any ideas to overcome this?
(Morgan): When at a disadvantage you use your strengths to overcome them.
*Morgan concentrates and lights up his wand to create a small pillar of ice for Ryuuji to stand on*
(Morgan): It may not be the best surface but it’s better than the sand.
*Ryuuji sits Morgan down and goes to stand on the pillar of ice. Concentrating, he starts to gather magical particles between his hands to form a ball of fire. Morgan stayed on the lookout while Ryuuji was gathering magic particles. Morgan soon saw a dust cloud and then saw Chloe and Block heading their way*
(Morgan): Here they come. Ready~ . . .fire!
(Ryuuji): Fire Grid Form 319: Solar Heat Wave!
*Ryuuji fired off the beam of fire magic he gathered between his hands at Chloe and Block who quickly dodged the attack as soon as they saw. The heat from the attack slightly burnt the shoulder of Block who had to stop rolling to relieve some of the pain while a part of Chloe’s sand snake had become hardened from the heat and couldn’t move. Chloe looked on the ground and saw that the sand in the area they were in had become hardened sand thanks to the heat from Ryuuji’s attack. He may have missed them but he accomplished his goal of creating a solid footing to fight*
(Morgan): That should even the playing field. I’ll handle the armadillo. You take on the coyote.
*Ryuuji nodded and dashed off the ice pillar while Morgan made his way over to Block. Ryuuji dashed past Block who was about to pursue Ryuuji but was stopped by Morgan who summoned a boxer ice possessor who punched Block across the chin. Block fell backward but quickly recovered to see Morgan get ready to fire ice shards at him. Block quickly jumped out of the way of the first shard and ran to the right to avoid getting hit by the other ice shards before rolling back into a ball and heading towards Morgan. As Block was closing in on Morgan, he was stopped by an ice shielder who stopped him with its shield. Despite being stopped, Block was still rolling trying to break through the spirit and picked up speed. While the possessor was in pain it wouldn’t give up and stood its ground. The possessor gradually started lifting Block up with its shield and flung him up into the air. Block released his ball form just in time to be greeted by the ice boxer who delivered a gigantic spike punch of ice to Block that sent him hurtling toward the ground. Morgan used his powers to summon a pillar of ice which Block crashed into on his way down. Frost scattered as Block crashed through the ice and he found most of his body submerged in ice unable to move except for his head and neck. He tried building up electricity to break through the ice but that wasn’t working either. He wasn’t able to build up enough electricity*
(Block): Dammit! Let me out of here!
(Morgan): Stop struggling. That ice will melt in a couple of hours. Until then, rest for a bit.
*Morgan delivered a chop to the back of Block’s neck which knocked him unconscious. While Morgan was finishing up Block, Ryuuji was fighting against Chloe who summoned more sand snakes to do battle against him. Thanks to the solid ground, Ryuuji was able to gain better footing and fight properly in the desert. He was easily punching his way through the sand snakes one by one and getting closer to Chloe who was beginning to sweat. However, she had one ace up her sleeve. Taking a deep breath she began to play her flute rapidly and started being lifted off the ground by the head of a serpent. At first, Ryuuji thought it was another sand snake, but when he saw four other heads appear beside the head Chloe was on he soon realized what he was looking at*
(Ryuuji): A hydra?
(Chloe): Mythical beings can also be formed if you have a good grasp on them. I’ve only brought this guy out on the rarest of occasions. It’s the third time I’ve summoned it. Never thought it would be against one knight of all things.
(Ryuuji): Well, I’m honored to be the opponent of such a rare spirit.
*Two heads came charging at Ryuuji where he barely dodged the first one with a sidestep and jumped on the head of the second one. He started running along the back of the second until he saw two more about to attack him from his right and left sides. Ryuuji jumped up to avoid getting eaten by the heads and gathered magic in his right leg*
(Ryuuji): Fire Grid Form 288: Burnt Ax Kick!
*Ryuuji delivered a downward ax kick which released a fire air slash attack that sliced through the three necks of the serpents. Ryuuji landed on the decapitated head of one of the serpents and looked up at Chloe to see six new heads had appeared. At first he was shocked but then realized what he was fighting against*
(Ryuuji): Oh yeah. It’s a hydra. Cut off one head, two more will take its spot.
(Chloe): That’s not all it can do.
*Chloe plays her flute and the six new heads start spitting out sand from their mouths. The heads begin covering the hardened sand area with fresh new sand and burying Ryuuji in the process. When the serpents stop spitting out sand the desert is completely covered with fresh sand and Ryuuji was nowhere to be seen*
(Chloe): Now to check up on Block and see if he-
*All of a sudden the sand near Chloe began to rumble and Ryuuji flew out of the sand and into the sky where the soles of his shoes were emitting flames that allowed him to fly. As Ryuuji stood still floating in the sky, Chloe looked up amazed at what she was seeing. Never before had she seen someone use fire magic in a way like this*
(Ryuuji): Amazed? So am I. Since you showed me your special spirit, it only seemed right that I show you my new skill. It’s the first time I’ve ever used this in battle. Didn’t think I could pull it off. I’ll have to thank Gael for giving me the idea and Alita for the pointers.
(Chloe): New skill or no skill. My hydra is invincible and can’t be beaten.
*Chloe starts playing her flute and serpents begin spitting out sand bullets at Ryuuji rapidly like a machine gun. Ryuuji isn’t intimidated by the bullets and instead dodges a few of them before flying head first toward the hydra. Stretching out his arms like a superhero, Ryuuji flies headfirst into the mouth of the serpent’s head Chloe is on. The serpent swallows Ryuuji whole. Chloe lets out a sigh of relief believing she’s won, but the belly of the hydra spirit begins to turn red and then it explodes. Chloe begins to fall to the ground dropping her flute in the process. As she’s falling she gets caught by Ryuuji with one hand and catches her flute in the other. He snaps the flute in half and then lowers himself to the ground just as Morgan was approaching them. He sets Chloe down and she lifts her hands up*
(Chloe): Okay, I give up. I surrender.
(Ryuuji): Really? Just like that?
(Chloe): You destroyed my best spirit and my flute. Without those weapons, I can’t do much. And since the other knight is here, I can only assume Block got defeated. Is he still alive?
(Morgan): Yes. However, he’s submerged in a block of ice that’ll melt away in a hour or so. He’s unconscious but still breathing, I swear. You should be able to break him out with a rock.
(Chloe): Then that’s it for me. Physical combat was never my specialty. I’ll rescue him and be on my way. I won’t pursue you and neither will he. I’ll make sure of that.
(Ryuuji): Very well. Then we’ll be on our way.
(Chloe): Wait! Before you go, answer me this one question: was it wrong to be born as a demihuman? Would my life have been much better if I’d been born as a human, elf, or even a merfolk?
*Ryuuji walked over to Chloe and hugged her. At first she was beside herself and didn’t know what to do. A human was hugging her for the first time and yet she felt no malice or hatred coming from him, but rather warmth and security. Like a father hugging his own child. Without realizing it her eyes began to water and tears started to flow from them. She was crying, for the first time since she was a child. She was crying like a child and couldn’t stop. All the pain she’s been through, the discrimination, and hatred she had in her heart was coming out and all she could do was cry*
(Ryuuji): I’m sorry. You’ve suffered so much. What happened to you was wrong and there was no reason for it. I don’t know why we discriminate against your race. I don’t even know why we discriminate against our own races at times. What I do know is that we should never feel ashamed of what we were born as. You are a very smart and talented demihuman, and you have my respect. I know the day will come when your talents will be recognized by the world.
*Ryuuji releases Chloe who starts to wipe away her tears*
(Chloe): That other knight who was with you might be dead by now. Muta isn’t like me and Block. He seriously despises humans almost as much as Silas if not more. He takes great joy in killing them. I don’t know what that knight did, but Muta seemed more determined than ever to find and kill him.
(Ryuuji): Don’t worry. That young knight is under my guidance. He’s not as weak as you may think. Just like you have a lot of untapped potential so too does he.
***
*Back in the underground ruins. Muta was ruthlessly slashing away at building after building looking for Jin. Muta even slashed through the house Jin was in moments ago, but Jin was smart enough to move to a different area when Muta wasn’t looking. Jin now found himself cowering in the wreckage of a small shop behind the clerk’s counter terrified for his life*
(Jin): Okay. I just need to hold out and wait for Ryuuji and Morgan to show up. I’m sure those two up top aren’t as strong as Muta, and once they get here the three of us can take him down together.
*As Jin sat there quietly as possible trying to take his mind off the possibility of being discovered, he began replaying the conversations he had with Ryuuji and Dust.
*Inner monologue*
(Ryuuji): I didn’t master all 500 forms of the Fire Grid by dumb luck, and you can’t be a great knight if you don’t have confidence in yourself or your skills.
(Dust): Being a knight means putting your life on the line every day and struggling to survive so that you can see tomorrow. Stop thinking about surviving and start thinking about winning.
*End Inner monologue*
*With the words of his mentors playing in his head, Jin realized that his hiding was just another excuse to avoid fighting and survive. He was hoping for Ryuuji and Morgan to show up and beat Muta in his place. In the end this was a strategy that relied on dumb luck that Ryuuji and Morgan would be in any condition to still fight and to avoid fighting because he lacked the confidence to win by himself. Jin looked to the side and saw a shattered mirror that reflected his image. In the past, he always looked in the mirror and saw himself as a brave knight who served the kingdom proudly just like his father and grandfather before him. But now all he sees is a frightened child who was all bark and no bite and felt disgusted at what he saw. Well not anymore. Rising to his feet, he jumped over the counter and went out into the streets of the ruins where he saw Muta looking over some wreckage*
(Jin): Hey!
*Muta turned around and saw Jin. He smiled joyously that he finally found the knight he was looking for*
(Muta): There you are. I was starting to wonder if I had accidentally killed you in one of my attacks. What’s the matter? Ran out places to hide? Don’t worry, I don’t mind counting to ten and giving you time to find a new hiding spot.
(Jin): No. I’m through hiding and running. I’m going to beat you right here and now.