*It was the next day at Jin’s house where he had just woken up and gotten changed into his workout gear which was a grey and red tracksuit with a white tank top. Once he was dressed he headed to his garage and hopped on his custom scooter that he built using parts he found at a junkyard. He reforged the parts, added in a new engine and wheels, and passed his exam to drive it. He took out his phone and pulled up the address he was heading to which was Jade’s house to train for the battle against Javan. Jin was a little nervous as this was the first time he had ever been to Jade’s house. Aside from Ryuuji and Sanada, Jin had never been to anyone else’s house in Shadow Eye. Jin hopped on his scooter and drove off where he started to remember the discussion the group had yesterday*
***
*Flashback*
*Back in Amarti’s office, Hibana sat on the couch with Jin and Gael and pulled out her laptop to show them what they were up against. After typing in a few keys, a picture of Saber popped up*
(Hibana): Let’s start with Saber Kay. Leader of Javan. Nicknamed the Iron Empress. Ever since she was young she was considered a prodigy and genius who excelled at whatever she did. Tragedy struck when her parents were in a subway accident and died when she was fourteen. She became the sole heiress of the Kay name and vowed to keep the family name alive. She soon enrolled into the knight academy and graduated first in her class at eighteen. After graduation, she joined the White Tiger Knights and quickly asserted herself as a key asset to the order. She’s cracked over five hundred cases in the eight years she’s been there and is considered one of the strongest knights in Brister. Counting her there are eight members total of Javan. Each member was handpicked by her personally.
*Pressing another button on her computer, Hibana pulled up seven more pictures to show the members of Javan. Gael and Jin recognized Wato but the other six were mysterious to them. They saw four ladies with the first two looking similar to each other with dark purple frilly hair, fair skin and purple eyes. The other lady had dark green hair and grey eyes with her right eye being covered by her hair. The final lady was a demihuman and was a snow leopard. She had dark skin, silver hair and black eyes. The other three were men. The first one was a senior citizen with short brown hair, yellow eyes, and dark skin. The second was an elf with fair skin, blonde hair, yellow eyes and looked to be Amarti’s height*
(Hibana): First up, Wato aka the Blue Tornado. A member of the Wind School and Sanada’s junior. His magic is wind and he just recently earned the title of Wind Master. While Sanada may be the stronger of the two, Wato’s skills are nothing to laugh at. Following him is Lukas Travis. Nicknamed the Peerless Cardinal. He was the first one to get recruited by Saber and is the second in-command of Javan because of his peerless strategies and intellect. Don’t let his size fool you. He’s physically fit and has been on the cover of several fitness magazines. He even participated in Brister’s strongest man contest and actually came in fifth. Next up, Brodie Nagata. People call him the Stone Fortress and he serves as advisor of Javan. Loves alcohol and vegetables. At the age of 56 he’s one of the oldest active knights and if he has it his way, he’ll be a knight until he’s 70. Moving onto the females we have Pennie Hermione. The Silent Fairy. A shy girl by nature but talented when it comes to using handguns in CQC. Spends her free time gardening. She’s also a big fan of Raika here. After her comes the twins Violet and Indigo Lotus. The Heaven and Earth Flowers. Shrine priestesses with amazing skills turned knights. Violet is the older caring big sis while Indigo is the younger cool lil sis. Indigo can create shadow clones of herself and uses a crossbow in battle. Violet on the other hand follows the family trade and uses talismans combined with fire magic. They’re both quite popular and have fan clubs with Violet coming in first place as the female knight I want to marry among the citizens. Finally, Lola T’Challa, the Prize Queen. Before becoming a knight she was a gymnast, track/field, and wrestling star who excelled at competitions. She became a knight looking for a new challenge and found it in the form of Saber. While Saber may be the leader, Lola is the media’s golden girl and has even been in commercials promoting several products. This is Javan and this is who you will be going up against.
(Gael): Okay, so this won’t be a cakewalk, but I still say we can beat them.
(Jade): Obviously. The question is can you two hang with these elite knights?
*Gael gets ready to talk*
(Morgan): That was a rhetorical question, the answer is no anyway. While I admit you two have made impressive strides in your training, at your current state you might as well be casualties of war.
(Amarti): I agree. Which is why to get you guys ready so that you can at least make a contribution in the battle, I believe it is time we send you to the Wolf’s Den.
*Jade gets an evil grin on her face*
(Jin): The Wolf’s Den? What’s that?
(Dust): Jade’s personal dojo. Once you enter you’ll know true terror, but if you manage to walk out you’ll be stronger than ever. Best of luck to you guys.
(Jin): Let me guess, you’re not joining us?
(Dust): Nope. I got my own training to do. If you survive, I’ll see you on the day of battle. If not, it was nice knowing you. Even if our time was short.
*Dust heads out the door chuckling*
(Amarti): I’ll also be conducting my own personal training by myself, so I’ll leave Jin and Gael in your hands Jade.
(Jade): Yosh! Leave it to me! You better get a good night’s sleep, because tomorrow is when the fun begins. I’ll send you the address to my house.
*Flashback ends*
***
*As Jin drove down the street he returned to reality and stopped as he reached the address of Jade’s house. Pulling off to the side of the road he stopped in front of a grey car he recognized. The doors opened and out came Raika, Ryuuji, Morgan and Gael. Each of them was wearing workout gear*
(Jin): Morning guys.
(Morgan): Morning Jin. Are you ready for today?
(Jin): As ready as I’ll ever be. Where’s Sanada?
(Raika): Went to go train in the mountains. He said he’ll return in time for the battle.
(Jin): What about Sir Ryuuji?
(Ryuuji): I have come to help out. I may not be able to participate in the battle, but that doesn’t mean I can’t lend a helping hand in the training process. I also got a message from Amarti and Zia for you and Gael.
(Gael): Really? What’d they say?
(Ryuuji): Well Amarti says best of luck on your training with Jade. He knows you guys will succeed and make him proud in the battle.
(Jin): That was nice of him.
(Ryuuji): As for Zia, she says that as of today you represent Master Amarti and if you do anything to embarrass or humiliate him, she will personally cut it off. She then proceeded to take out her kukari and violently sliced through a large roll of salami.
*Jin and Gael covered their crotch area as they winced in horror*
(Morgan): No pressure. Let’s get going.
*Morgan, Raika, and Ryuuji head over to a flight of stairs leading to a temple*
(Jin): Hey wait, where are you going? Isn’t Jade’s house across the street?
*Jin points over to a small building across the street*
(Morgan): No, that’s just an old building that’s not in use anymore. Jade’s house is up here.
*Morgan, Raika, and Ryuuji begin climbing the stairs followed by Jin and Gael. As they climb the stairs they saw bushes and flowers growing on both sides. Once they reach the top of the stairs, they passed through a wooden gate and arrive at a temple where cherry blossoms could be seen growing beautifully out front, a small pond in the center, a small building off to the side, and a large shrine*
(Gael): Woah! This place is cool.
(Jin): Does Jade really live here? How can she afford this place?
(Raika): This place used to belong to a group of monks. Unfortunately, the head monk passed away a few years ago and the monks dispersed. Apparently, Jade was good friends with the monks and they signed the place over to her.
*The doors to the shrine open and out comes Jade wearing a white karate gi outfit*
(Jade): Welcome to the Wolf’s Den. It is here that you will come face to face with your limitations and overcome them. During this week you either leave here stronger than when you came or you will leave in a stretcher. Let’s begin. Morgan. Raika. Feel free to use the backyard for your training.
(Morgan): Thank you Jade.
(Gael): Wait, you’re not joining us?
(Raika): Of course not, we have our own training to do. Listen to what she has to say. Ryuuji, make sure she doesn’t kill them.
(Ryuuj): I will do my best.
(Jade): Follow me you two.
(Jin and Gael): Yes!
***
*Jin and Gael followed Jade into the dojo. After that, the next hour was a blur as Jade fought against them and subjected them to a beating that consisted of suplexes, punches, kicks, and submission holds. While Jin and Gael were free to fight back their attempts proved futile as Jade was able to counter whatever move they were planning. Their cries of pain echoed throughout the dojo but fell on deaf ears as nobody would help them. Not even Ryuuji would step in to help. He watched from the side with a stoic look, watching them as if he was analyzing their movements. At the end of the hour, Jin and Gael were on the floor of the dojo, sweaty and panting from exhaustion and pain. Jade on the other hand was stretching near Ryuuji and hadn’t even broken a sweat*
(Jade): Alright, that was a good warm-up. Ryuuji, what’s your analysis of them?
(Ryuuji): For Jin, his reflexes are too slow. His metal manipulation is taking too long and his combat abilities are lackluster. However, his toughness is impressive. He took more hits than Gael and was usually the first one to get back up from attacks. When he finally started using his metal manipulation to create weapons they were very impressive. If they connected with his opponents they would be quite devastating. As for Gael, his movements and attacks are good but he leaves himself far too open to attacks. The bo of light is a good weapon as are his projectile attacks, but I feel that he can use his light powers for something more and his strikes can be stronger.
(Jade): I agree with everything you just said. Good news, boys. I now know what to work on for the rest of the week. Jin, we’re going to work on your combat skills and shorten the time for your metal manipulation. Gael, we’re going to make your moves a lot crispier and teach you a new technique for your light magic. Alright, break time is over. Let’s get the training started.
***
*After that, the real training began. Jin’s training consisted of manipulating metal into certain weapons within a certain time limit and using them for combat. He would then do hand to hand combat training with Ryuuji. Gael’s training consisted of striking punching bags with weights on his legs and arms. He would then do meditation with Ryuuji to better focus on light magic. Along with their specific training they would also be attacked at times by Jade and forced to fight against her. Sometimes together and sometimes by themselves where they would obviously lose. There was also weight training and running thrown in for good measure. At the end of the first day the two collapsed from exhaustion and spent the night in Jade’s house. When the two woke up they were still sore and got even more sore when Jade attacked them. They were allowed to have a quick shower as well as breakfast and then the training continued. It started off with them fighting against Jade for one hour once again where they were defeated. However, this fight was different. Despite losing they weren’t nearly as exhausted as they were when they fought her the first day. In the days that followed their training continued where Jin’s speed on his metal manipulation increased by seventy percent and his hand-to-hand combat improved to where he was able to take down Ryuuji even though he was holding back. Gael also improved with his strikes becoming more powerful and his movements crispier. While he still left himself open at times there weren’t as many as before and the windows of those openings were small. Not only that but their stamina had also improved, they were amassing some muscle on their bodies, and they were lasting better at fighting Jade. While they still lost to her they weren’t going down as easily as they were before and Jade had to put more effort into her moves. By the end of the fifth day she was actually sweating*
***
*It was now the sixth day and Amarti and Zia had just arrived with Sanada preparing to walk up the stairs*
(Amarti): Good to see you again, Sanada. How was training in the mountains?
(Sanada): Enlightening. My sword and spirit have been resharpened. I am ready to bring victory.
(Amarti): Talked to Dust, he’ll be back first thing tomorrow morning. Raika, Morgan and Jade should be good to go. That just leaves Jin and Gael. Hopefully, they’re ready to go.
(Zia): All assuming they survived the Wolf’s Den.
*As the three made it to the temple they were shocked to see Jin and Gael fighting against Jade and holding their own. Jin was swapping between weapons at a rapid pace while Gael was able to keep up with Jade’s movements and counter her attacks. The two were able to knock Jade off balance and a punch and jump kick combo to knock her into the pond*
(Ryuuji): Time! That’s one hour.
(Jin and Gael): YEAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH~!
*As Jin and Gael let out a primal scream of their victory, Amarti, Sanada, and Zia stood there stunned at what they just witnessed*
(Sanada): Oi oi. Are you kidding me? They actually managed to take down Jade?
(Zia): Oh my. . . oh my-
(Amarti): Marviseoulis (Marvelous)! I knew it!
*Amarti begins to laugh manically as Jade climbs out of the pond*
(Jade): So you guys think you’re hot stuff?
*Jade pulls down her sleeves to reveal that she’s been wearing weights on her arms this whole time. She unhooks the buckles and the weights fall to the ground with a thud creating a crater in the ground. Jade then pulls her pants legs to reveal more weights. She takes those off as well and they hit the ground making a hard thud and crater. Jin and Gael were shocked and scared at what they just witnessed*
(Gael): You’ve been wearing weights this whole time?
(Jade): This was all part of my training. I say these weights are about eight times heavier than the ones I gave you.
(Jin): No way. Gael could barely move in the ones you gave him to begin with.
(Gael): And you’ve been carrying around eight times that weight? Just what the hell are you?
(Jade): I’m the Stone Wolf. Now get ready for level two.
(Jin): Gael, it’s been nice knowing you.
(Gael): Hey, if we’re going down, we might as well go down swinging.
*Jade gets into a pouncing position and disappears thanks to her lightning speed. As Jin and Gael prepared for whatever attack she was planning, they received a shock when they were pulled in a headlock between Jade’s armpits and breast*
(Jade): Congratulations! You two have successfully survived the cub course of the Wolf’s Den. You two still have a long ways to go and I wish we had more time, but as you guys are now, I’d say you stand a good chance in the battle.
(Amarti): I couldn’t agree more.
*Jade released Jin and Gael who took a breath of relief that the fighting was over*
(Morgan): You had me scared there for a minute Jade. I thought you were really going to hurt them.
(Raika): Yeah, I was prepared to jump in and everything.
(Jade): Nonsense. I may love a good fight, but not even this was enough to get me truly heated in the moment. Still, they really have improved. Even though I was still holding back they managed to last one good hour against me. If they can do that they can handle Javan. So how did your training go?
(Amarti): It went well. Hibana has been keeping an eye on Dust for us and she says his training has produced some amazing results I think we’ll be impressed with. Alright everyone. Let’s talk strategy.
*After a few hours of talking strategy it was the late afternoon and everyone decided to head home and rest up for the battle*
***
*Elsewhere in a forest at night outside of Brister, Blue Dragon knights were preparing a raid on an Eclipse nest. The nest was a large tower that was blocking the full moon. The tower was black and had holes riddled throughout the place*
(Blue Dragon Knight #1): All units, call in?
(Blue Dragon Knight #2): Unit Kur standing by, over.
(Blue Dragon Knight #3): Unit Wyvern standing by, over.
(Blue Dragon Knight #4): Unit Druk standing by, over.
(Blue Dragon Knight #1): Perfect. All units are here. All units prepare to attack the nest. Remember, these are hornet-type Eclipses so keep your eyes in the sky as well as the ground, over.
(Blue Dragon Knight #2-4): Copy that, over!
(Blue Dragon Knight): On the count of three. One. . .two. . .
*All of a sudden the Eclipse nest exploded and the tower began crumbling down in the area creating a giant ball of smoke*
(Blue Dragon Knight #1): Unit Wyvern status report, over!
(Blue Dragon Knight #3): I’m. . .not sure what happened sir. The tower just exploded on its own, over.
(Blue Dragon Knight #1): Are there any Eclipses flying out? Units Kur and Druk report, over!
(Blue Dragon Knight #2): Negative. None in the sky, over.
(Blue Dragon Knight #4): We have some on the ground, but they’re already dead and disappearing, over.
(Blue Dragon Knight #1): What the hell? Who did this?
(Blue Dragon Knight #3): Captain, we have a visual! An unknown assailant has arisen from the wreckage, over!
(Blue Dragon Knight #1): Can you describe them, over?
(Blue Dragon Knight #3): Negative, the smoke is too thick. But I can confirm that it is only one person, over.
(Blue Dragon Knight #1): Understood. Units Kur, Druk, and Fafnir will investigate. Proceed with caution. Unit Wyvern will provide support from above, over.
(Blue Dragon Knight #2-4): Roger!
*The units of Kur, Druk, and Fafnir approached the wreckage cautiously with their weapons and magic projectiles armed and ready to strike. Some of the knights who were wind users used their magic to blow the smoke away and when the area was clear they were shocked to see Dust sitting on the pile of wreckage with a canister of water in his hands and looking up at the night sky. He wore black jeans and a black tank top with his jacket lying right beside him*
(Dust): Hey. What’s up?
(Blue Dragon Knight #1): You!? Who are you? Did you do this?
(Dust): Yep.
(Blue Dragon Knight #1): How!? Our scouts reported over five hundred Eclipses in that nest.
(Dust): 739 to be precise. Some were still waiting to hatch.
(Blue Dragon Knight #1): But why did you destroy it?
(Dust): That disgusting tower has been blocking my view of the moon for the past few days. It annoyed me so I decided to get rid of it myself and use it as a training ground to test out a new technique I’ve been working on.
*All of a sudden Dust’s phone went off*
(Dust): Excuse me for a minute. Hello. Oh hey Amarti, I was waiting for you to call me. We all good to go? How’s rookie and the pup? Good, good. And the plan? Alright, that works for me. I’m heading back right now.
*Dust hangs up his phone, gets up, dusts himself off, and puts on his jacket. He jumps down from the wreckage and begins to walk toward the knights*
(Dust): Alright, guys. I have a battle to get to. I’ll leave the clean up duty to you guys. Feel free to take credit for the tower’s destruction. Seeing the moon was enough for me. Have a good night.
*Dust walks past the knights and disappears into the forest walking back to Brister. He soon took out his headphones and scrolled through his phone to start playing music*
Author’s Note: End of the training arc. This was a pretty straightforward chapter but involved three stories. The first was introducing the members of Javan as well as explore Saber’s past. My favorite member is Lola. The second story gave us the training arc of Jin and Gael. I think fighting against Jade was good training for them. I mean if they can hold their own against a not-so-serious Jade then they can hold their own against Javan. I feel that this battle against Javan will be a good growth experience for Jin and Gael. The final story involving Dust was actually an original story I had long ago. This was going to be the teaser for Shadow Eye when I started writing the novel. However, I wrote the short story and felt that served as a good introduction to the character. I was bummed I had to skip over the teaser, so when I wrote this chapter I thought this was would be a good way to end it. Well, that’s all for now. Next chapter sees the start of Kragnarok. Who will win? Who will lose? Place your bets now. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.