Halim led us to the third floor of the tower. A room which expanded up to the seventh floor laid in the core of the floor. Various balconies dotted the walls, allowing someone on the higher floors to peer down.

The entire place gave off the aura of a stadium, but why would a small town like this have the need for one? Then again, the very existence of this ten-floored tower was a mystery. None of the residents lived here, instead living in small huts around it.

"This place is enormous!" Hideo exclaimed. His voice echoed off the white-marble-like walls. He chuckled like a child. "Cool!"

"I'm not going to lose to the other four knights!" I yelled, smiling as my voice bounced around the room.

Hyosetsu sighed. "How immature." He drew half-an-inch of Baldo. "Let's stop with the antics and begin."

"Alright!" I said, running over to the center of the room. "Your objective will be to break through my barriers and to take me down."

Eiichi smirked. "Oh, this is going to be fun," the golden armored knight said as he spun his spear around.

"Yeah, I have another chance to embarrass you," I said, grinning.

He snickered. "You defeated me with Second Heaven. Had I awakened mine, I would've easily defeated you."

"Hurry up and learn how to activate it, then you won't have an excuse when you lose to me again."

"How confident of you," Eiichi said, pointing his spear at me. "Enjoy your time in the clouds, I'll bring you back to the ground where you belong, peasant!"

"You're the one who will be going to the ground, six feet under!"

"Is that a threat?"

"No, it's not. It's your future."

"Guys, stop arguing," Setsuko said, stepping in between us.

"Yes. Save your energy for the actual training exercise," Hyosetsu said, closing his eyes.

I glanced around the room and noticed that Hideo was gone. My eyes shifted to the balconies above. Was he getting into position?

I closed my eyes and focused my mana into Agnes. "Oh, guard me, shield of the sheep. Triple-Barrier!" I yelled, opening my eyes. Three green spherical barriers manifested around me.

"Three barriers? You think that's enough to protect you?" Eiichi sneered.

"It's all I need for you."

The blond threw his spear forward. The tip of the weapon pressed against the barrier like a needle against a bubble. Albeit, this bubble didn't pop. Instead, the spear was sent flying into the air.

Eiichi jumped up and caught it. He grinned. "Interesting. This will be fun! Entertain me, Tetsuya!" he yelled, slamming his spear against the barrier against. This time, a shockwave blew the spear and its owner back.

Hyosetsu rushed at me as Eiichi tried to slow himself down. The blue-eyed knight unsheathed his sword as he got within a foot of my first barrier and sliced the air. He jumped and kicked his feet against the barrier to gain some elevation. With both hands firmly gasping the sword, the raven-haired knight stabbed the center. A shock-wave shook the room. Hyosetsu continued to hold on. even as the air from the blast threatened to push him back.

"Now, it's my turn!" Setsuko yelled. She ran up at me with her platinum-colored maces. The barrier shook like gelatin. The princess grunted as the force of her attack was sent back at her. "Amazing."

I smiled. "If those weren't normal attacks, I'm sure the first barrier would've come down."

Eiichi sneered. "It still gets on my nerves that even a simple attack can't break through," he yelled as he charged forward once more.

Hyosetsu jumped into the air again and brought Baldo down as Setsuko struck. The combined attack from the three sent the barrier crashing down.

"Yes!" Setsuko yelled as she braced herself against the latest shock-wave.

I snickered. "So, you three decided to work together."

"That was a coincidence!" Eiichi yelled as he spun his spear once again. His eyes widened. "Three?" He glanced up. "Where is Hideo?"

Suddenly, something struck the second barrier, causing it to shake uneasily.

I'd forgotten that Hideo's weapon was energy based when I proposed this exercise. Though, I guess it was fine. The energy bullets he was using weren't anything fancy at the end of the day, unlike that one bullet which could split into multiple others.

"Nice one, shrimp!" Eiichi yelled as he charged once more.

I held out Agnes. The barrier stopped trembling as the spear knight came within an inch of striking it down. *Boom* Dust spread near where we had entered the room from. Eiichi had struck one of the two-dozen pillars encircling the room.

"Ugh," the blond knight said, standing up from the pile of debris. His face trickled with blood. He glared at me, but had a smile on his face. "Not bad, peasant! Not bad at all! Perhaps you've finally become a worthy opponent after all!"

"You should've realized that after I kicked you butt!" I yelled as I reinforced the second barrier.

Setsuko snickered. "Eiichi is a sore loser."

Eiichi clenched his teeth together. "Once I'm done with the peasant, I'm coming for you!" he yelled before charging once again. The guy reminded me of the wild boars Taku and I used to encounter in the forest near our house. They attacked like maniacs and chased down even those bigger than them in order to show that they were stronger than everyone else.

The crown princess grinned. "You'll regret challenging me." She threw one of her maces at me, distorting the barrier even more. Bullets rained down overhead, making it shake further.

Hyosetsu took a step back away from me before bringing down Baldo with all the strength he had.

I coughed and moved around. He wasn't kidding about having gotten used to swinging it. I could feel the sheer intensity. He'd denied being a genius, but his actions indicated otherwise.

"Time to bring it down!" Eiichi yelled, jabbing the sphere. Another shockwave followed, sending all three ground-level knights flying. Halim remained unaffected as he stood watch by the entrance.

"Two down, one more to go," Setsuko said as she landed gracefully. She spun around and swung her maces at my last barrier. A gasp escaped her lips as the maces struck her, sending her crashing into the wall around where Halim stood.

Hyosetsu's eyes widened. "Setsuko..."

"Serra better be giving it his all with his training... else his teacher will overtake him once again."

I smiled.

Eiichi walked around the barrier as if looking for weak points on a brick wall. He swung his spear into the air and jumped as high as he could.

"It ends here, peasant," he chuckled as he brought the spear's shaft over his head. "Swallow Strike!"

*Boom*

Cracks dotted the barrier. I watched as a cloud of white dust rained over us.

*Pow* *Pow* *Pow*

Several bullets struck the barrier before the cracks could close completely. The remnants crashed to the floor in the form of a purple wave of mana, waving away the dust in my immediate area.

The angles of those shots weren't normal. Had Hideo jumped off of the balcony he was hiding in?

He appeared from the thick cloud of dust with a bloodied Eiichi in one arm. "It's over, peasant!" Hideo said, grinning.

I snickered and jumped into the air. His eyes widened as I reached his eye level. "You gotta hit me still."

He didn't fire another shot. Instead, he ran over to Halim as I descended several feet away from where I once stood.

Slowly, he placed Eiichi beside the arch-angel's feet.

"Hideo..." Eiichi said.

"Rest," he said. "The three of us will finish him off."

He snickered. "Alright, but if you don't then I will. Let me just heal first."

"Sorry, but you can't use that for this challenge," Halim said.

Eiichi turned away. "Alright... Go and defeat that peasant, Hide."

"I will!" Hideo said before turning to look back at me.

I glanced around the dust covered room. Setsuko and Hyosetsu were moving around within the cloud of dust, as if that would cover them from me.

"You know, the dust isn't thick enough to hide you from me," I said, jumping back. Hyosetsu and Setsuko's halted their attacks before their weapons could meet. The two of them turned to look at me.

"Come," I said, holding Agnes over my chest.

"Move aside," Hyosetsu said.

"I'll leave him to you then," Setsuko said, stepping aside.

Hyosetsu raised his blade overhead. "Order VI!" he yelled. He swung Baldo twice in rapid succession that it almost became impossible to tell that they were two swings instead of a hit from an x-shaped battering ram.

*Boom*

Hyosetsu and I were thrown to opposite ends of the room, but I dug my feet to the floor before I could hit the wall. The duke of Kuroyuki no San wasn't as lucky, having struck the pillar to Halim's left followed by that side of the wall.

"Two down," I said, smiling.

*Pow* *Pow* Green gunfire struck Agnes. I jumped up before some of the lower bullets could hit my feet.

"Hideo, halt your fire," Setsuko said as she touched the boy's arm. "Go and hide."

He nodded and ran off to one of the stair cases throughout the room.

"With him gone, we can finally have a proper battle, even if it doesn't allow for mana powered attacks," she said, grinning.

"Right. Hyosetsu and you are the only ones I've yet to have a proper one-on-one with," I said, grinning.

"Yup. Should I somehow lose, Hideo will finish you off in your frail state."

"Frail? Think you'll bring me to at least that level?"

The crown princess nodded. "Of course, I do."

I snickered. "Then bring it, Setsuko Nive Eina Kuroriku Peña! I, Tetsuya Alexandro Kuroriku Kuroriku will defeat you!"

"Throwing back my line at me, huh?" she asked as she jumped several feet into the air. "The Queen's Judgment!"

I stepped aside and pulled my sleeves up, revealing the weights on my arms.

She gasped as they fell to the floor. The force of the weights hitting the ground blew her toward one of the balconies.

"Now, then, let's begin!" I said, spinning my arms around.

*Pow* A green bullet ripped through the dust cloud.

"Right, the last one left is you," I said, blocking the shot at the last moment. The bullet flew off of Agnes and struck a distant pillar and ripped through the wall.

The sound of footsteps echoed. Was he running away? He might've gained the ability to call forth his angel, but in battles like this, he could only rely on his own strength.

"Don't ever lower your guard!" a voice called out from behind. I spun around. A black blade hit the side of Agnes.

"You really are a resilient one," I said, jumping back.

"Of course, he is. He didn't survive a drawn-out battle against me for nothing," Eiichi said as he pushed himself up.

"Seems we're going to do this as a team after all," Setsuko said as she jumped down from the balcony she had landed on.

I smiled. "That's fine by me!"

"All at once!" Setsuko yelled as soon as her feet touched the floor.

Hyosetsu, Eiichi, and her ran at me from different angles, as if that were enough of a strategy to defeat me.

I took a deep breath and spun around, deflecting all of their attacks. "That was an amateur's call!"

Using her right hand, Setsuko gripped the floor and tapped it with her mace twice.

I winced as something ripped through my right arm. I glanced up and saw Hideo overhead.

"You thought you're all that, huh, peasant?" he asked as he spun around mid-air. "Well, you were mistaken!"

I stood there, eyes still.

How could I have fallen for such a simple strategy? The eye of the storm was always the best place to strike. I'd taught Serrano that very same strategy when we were kids...

"Nice job," I said, sighing. This wasn't supposed to end like this...

"You should've had the challenge be to take you down instead of simply hitting you," Setsuko said as she pushed herself up. "You might've won if that were the case." She grimaced as blood trickled down her right shoulder.

I ran over to her. A veil of green liquid popped out of Agnes' core. "Here, take this," I said, holding it out to her. "I'll heal your wounds."

She smiled. "Thanks, Tetsu," she said, taking it.

Agnes formed another. "Here, catch, Hyosetsu!"

Hyosetsu reached his hand up, catching it like a pro baseball player... assuming they took a dive for the ball well ahead of time.

Eiichi touched his chest, healing his wounds.

"Well, we shall call it a day," Halim said. "Or nine minutes if you're going by real world time."

"Nine minutes?" Hideo yelled.

Halim chuckled. "Well, slightly over nine, but that's the rough equivalent."

Hideo lowered his head. "Each day here really is but a small trickle back home..."

"Look at it in the bright-side, none of us have been away from our families for too long," I said, grinning. Though, it did feel like an eternity...

"True," Setsuko said, dusting herself off. "Now, if you excuse me, I'm going to go get ready for bed."

"Huh? Weren't you going to call Serrano?" I asked.

She smiled. "That's part of the getting ready for bed."

Eiichi snickered. "I see..."

"I didn't mean it in the way you're thinking of, you pervert!" Setsuko yelled as her face turned bright red.

"Ask him if he's okay for me," I said. "When I spoke with Rosa, she sounded as if something was wrong."

The princess nodded. "I noticed that as well..." She ran on ahead, leaving us guys behind. I smiled. If Serrano saw her like this, he probably would've been overjoyed. I wished he was here to have seen how much I'd grown.

Serra, whatever you're doing right now, please be okay.

**Solar Note: Hope that you enjoyed the chapter, if so then click on that 'vote' star ^_^! Also, mind sharing your thoughts and/or predictions?**