As soon as we were outside, uncle Takeshi opened a portal. "Let's go," he said with a smug grin.

I followed him inside. I gasped. It was... my angelic dome room.

"Why are we here?"

"I trust you know that this was my room before. This is the personal room of the wielder of Aventine. So, what better place for an old master to train his successor than this?"

I leered at him. "You aren't someone I would describe as 'old' in any sense of the word."

He chuckled. "I'll take that as a compliment. It's good to be in good cheer, even when things are tough."

I thought back to Tetsu. Usually, that's the way he was. At least... until the accusation. I shouldn't have dismissed his denial the way I did... I should've given him the chance to prove his innocence.

Takeshi unsheathed a black katana and pointed it at my neck. "Ready, successor?"

I jumped back and grabbed a hold of my earring. A bright violet-blue-light lit the night sky all around us.

"Woah," Uncle said, shielding his eyes with his left arm.

When did Aventine's light get that strong? I had last transformed it while in Makkuroyama, but I was too distracted by what was going on to notice the intensity of the light. At Tetsu's place, I used a wooden sword to review the basics, plus trained some of my other powers.

"Try to focus the light next time."

"Focus it? How?" I asked. "What does that do?"

He snickered. "You really have lot of learning to do." He glanced around. "Would be helpful if Kohri were around so that he could help me explain things."

"So, you aren't any better, huh?"

"No. I'm just not sure I can word it well." He took a deep breath. "But here goes... Basically, a strong light during an angel tool transformation can be both good and bad."

"Both?"

"Good in that it means the wielder has a strong mana. Bad in that a lot of that mana is leaking out."

I thought back to Reno's angel tool. The guy's weapon gave off a strong light when transformed, but would rapidly burn through his energy.

My eyes lowered to the blade in my hands. "Then I should work harder on my mana control." Teleporting also drained a lot out of me.

"Indeed," he said, patting my shoulder. His slap nearly knocked me over. He snickered. "You also got to work on becoming sturdier, kid."

I glared. Tetsu said the same thing once... minus the kid part.

Uncle tilted his head at me. "Perhaps, I should have you warm up first. You must be feeling groggy after that nap."

"I'm fine. I took a shower to get rid of the grogginess."

"I see. Well, once we're done, you'll need to take another." He sheathed his sword once more and held out a single finger at me. "Let's begin."

"Wait, why did you put away your sword?"

He smirked. "I'm not sure if you're ready for that. So, I decided we go over our original duel, you know, to gauge your growth."

Our original duel? I gasped. Right, the day before Tetsu and I set out for the capital for the meeting of the five knights.

"You're looking down on me," I said, holding Aventine firmly. "But, fine! Don't blame me if I slice off that finger!"

He snickered. "If you do, I'll be fine. I'm an abysmal, remember?"

Right...

I dashed at him and then moved around. He spun around and blocked the blade just like during that earlier encounter.

A smirk crossed my face. "Oh, great stones of the divine, come and aid me; Precipice!" I yelled.

Uncle flinched as seven spikes rose around him, stabbing his arms and legs. Blood dyed the floor a dark-crimson.

He laughed as he pulled his arms out of the spikes. His wounds rapidly healed. "Well, you caught me off guard." He swung his hand, shattering the spikes surrounding him and blowing me away.

I spread my wings out and sliced the air with a spiral of darkness to slow myself down.

"Not bad!" Takeshi said, appearing behind me.

I remained still.

"Huh? You aren't going to try to attack me?"

"You'll only dodge it," I said, maintaining a hold on Aventine.

"So, you're giving up? Boo...that's no fun."

"I'm not," I said, closing my eyes.

"Hmm? What are you plotting, Serra?"

I snickered. "I wonder that about you most of the time. Hope that you'll get serious after this..." I opened my eyes and moved so fast that an after image was left behind.

"Dark Tiger Claw!" I yelled, raising my left hand, or paw in this case. He spun around and blocked the attack with his arm before my claws could make contact with his skin. The smile he had on before vanished.

I snickered and flew over to another spot faster than a blink of an eye. He chuckled and spun around, wrapping himself with darkness like how I had done before.

"So, you've been training your abysmal abilities," he said, his eyes moving around as half a dozen afterimages appeared around him.

"Yeah. I'll need to use everything I can to defeat Abyssia, even if it means using the powers I inherited from their people."

"Indeed," he said as eyes glowed bright gold in the darkness. He reached his hand out. A dark hand manifested around me.

I grimaced. It was like when I had battled against Reno in the dungeon of the palace and in Abyssia. I was lucky that his djinn hadn't crushed my core.

Uncle blinked. "You okay, Serra?"

I pushed the darkness away with an outward burst of water mana. "Water Tiger's Fang!" I yelled, lurching at him. A wave of water rose behind me in the shape of a tiger's head.

Uncle's giant shadowy hand raced over and crushed it, sending water in all directions.

"Water. Didn't think you could use anything other than earth or dark mana."

"Zafir taught me a little, though this technique is improvised."

"Wait, you came up with it just now?"

I nodded. "Yeah. It's just a plain water attack. Wanted to add my own personal spin to it."

He laughed. "And I thought I was flashy." Like a boxer, he raised his fists over his chest. "Cat's Dark Night!"

My whole body froze. What was that? I gasped as I realized my elevation was dropping.

Uncle dashed after me and grabbed a hold of my left hand. "How was that? Cool, huh?" he said. His eyes were now identical to those of a cat's. "Then again, Father didn't make me the thirteenth pillar of darkness for nothing."

That's right. This man was one of the thirteen Pillars of Darkness.

"Serra, if you wish to defeat Abyssia, ya gotta defeat me first," he said, smiling like a cat. He snickered. "But for now, let's shift back to why we came out here." He floated back down to the battlefield and put me down on the exact spot where he had launched me.

My body, it still felt like stone...

"Oh, right..." He snapped his fingers.

The sensation gradually vanished. "What technique was that?" I asked, standing up.

He put a hand on his hips and sighed. "Didn't you listen when I shouted its name just now? It's called 'Cat's Dark Night'!"

I leered at him. "Not its name. How does it work?"

"Ohh, that! Hmm, well..." He chuckled. "That's a secret!"

I sighed. Should've figured he would say that... Then again, I couldn't judge, considering the secrets I'd kept from Tetsu and the others.

"Now, my fellow Aventine Knight, your real lessons begin now." He held his other hand toward Aventine. "Say the following with me, Serra."

I nodded.

Uncle closed his eyes, so I did the same. "Aventine, come forth!"

"You called?" a voice called out.

I opened my eyes and gasped. Standing before us was a beautiful dark-haired woman clad in black clothing. She looked like my aunt Anis, but had greyish-silver eyes instead of violet. Come to think of it, Uncle had that color of eyes when he was younger.

Why had they changed color?

"Long time no see, Ave," Uncle said, smiling.

"Huh? Who are you?"

"You don't recognize me? I know it had been awhile since I was your proper owner, but come on! I've wielded you a few times these past few days alone!"

She tilted her head. "You do look a bit familiar, but your personality is the opposite of the kid I remember."

Uncle sighed. "I'm Takeshi, your former owner."

The angel crossed her arms over chest and stared at him for a while. "Ahh, yes, 'Takeshi'."

I glanced at my uncle. Why was Aventine having a difficult time remembering him?

"Anyway, this boy here you probably know, right?"

She nodded. "Yes, Serrano. Your nephew."

Wait, how did she know that right away but not who he was?

"He's also my new protectee," Aventine said, making her way toward me. She looked me up and down. "Though, he isn't ready to call upon my power. Train him some more, 'Kuroshi'. Once you have, I'll contemplate training him." With those words, she vanished.

"Kuroshi? Why did she call you by that name?"

He snickered. "Guess she got used to my fake name." He turned away. "To be honest, I think she's angry at me..."

"Well, not that there's a lack of things to be mad at you about..."

He scoffed. "Oh, thanks!"

"You're welcome!" I said, snickering.

Uncle smiled slightly. "Hmm, you're rather good at this."

I shrugged. "Well, I had to keep up with Tetsu's banter for all these years."

He grinned. "Well, guess he got it from his old man."

"Seems like it. So, what now? Aventine doesn't think I'm ready." I lowered my gaze. Didn't blame her for thinking that.

"Well, like she just said, I got to train you." He sighed. "Was hoping that she would be of some help, though."

"So, you didn't think she would accept me?"

He rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry, Serra. I must agree with her. You got a long way to go."

I shook my head. "Don't be. I agree with you. That's why I'm here, to better myself."

He walked over and patted me on the head. "Selena would be proud if she were here."

I lowered my gaze once more. Mom... I hadn't visited her in some time. I had planned to do so after I finished university, but due to everything about Abyssia, I had forgotten.

"She wouldn't... I'm a bad son..."

"You're not. Anyway, now isn't the time to get sad."

I lifted my head. "Right!"

He snickered. "No need to force yourself to this degree. So, do you know any of Aventine's seven techniques?"

I raised my sword in front of me. "I'm still working on learning my first one."

"Which one would that be?"

"Gi."

"Gi, huh? The power behind that technique is the desire to protect others."

"Protect others?" Tetsu, Setty, Rosa, Xime, Conrad, and my mom flashed before my head.

My uncle smiled at the sword. "Yes. It isn't something that shines until one is at the toughest spot. Gi isn't something one masters, but rather something one feels."

"I see," I said, smiling slightly. With it, I could protect them. I gasped as something clicked, or rather didn't. "Wait, in my past battles, I never felt a power up even when I needed to protect someone."

"Hmm, are you sure? You unlocked a new power in various instances, didn't you?"

I thought back to how I had unlocked my abysmal form. It was to buy my teammates time to escape. But that was the only time I could recall. Plus, Tetsu had partially transformed to his in the midst of battle before, so was it right to note that down as Aventine's doing?

However, I did unlock Third Heaven during my battle with Satoru and the others too.

"I guess Gi can be seen as luck booster to some degree, assuming this were a game. One gets a higher chance to unlock new power ups."

I scratched my head. "So, what is Gi really?"

He snickered. "It's both the weakest and strongest of the seven techniques. The way it manifests depends on its wielders needs. You actually activated it when we fought the first time. To protect Tetsu, you were given enough power to push me back."

"So that wasn't Second Heaven's doing?"

He chuckled as he wagged his finger at me. "Nope. Your form at the time was still lacking. Well, it still is."

I scoffed. "I didn't use its full power to begin with. Though, that's valid when it comes to my Third Heaven."

He snickered. "Right, you did say that you were holding back. Hmm, guess it would be wise to teach you how you can improve your mana control first before we move on to the other techniques," he said, rubbing his neck with his left hand. "Doing so will help you reduce or increase the light that Aventine gives off when it transforms. That light can shift the flow of the battle early on by blinding your enemies for some time."

He stepped away from me and closed his eyes. Suddenly, a black aura pushed me away. I raised my arms over my face and chest.

Uncle smiled. Black sparks crackled all around him. "Pay close attention, my pupil." The black aura around him lessened in intensity. "One must internalize their energy as much as they can. Aura bursts like the one you just felt are useful, but one should be cautious with them or else they might run out of energy. You know, out of all the beings in the known multi-verse, we angels are among the best at using it. That's why we're known far and wide as 'energy-beings'. To people who lack powers, we appear to be glowing. Thus, in order for them to see us, we must lessen the output of our natural mana."

"I thought people without powers couldn't see energy of any kind without the help of tools."

"Under normal circumstances they can't, but ours is so radiant that they can. However, that might be our undoing..."

"You mean, that's why Abyssia is after Zionia?"

He nodded. "Yes. We are the one world where they can get a lot of light. Abysmals feed off the light. Without it they die."

"Beings of darkness who would die without the light..."

He snickered. "Light and dark wouldn't exist without the other. That's more obvious for the darkness, but we need them too."

I blinked. "We do?"

"Abyssia is the cradle of the multi-verse, it's 'The Origin' of all. 'All came from the darkness and all shall return to the darkness in due time'."

I thought back to a conversation I had with Tetsu and the others on the bus. "Why do we struggle?"

He continued to smile. "Why do we do anything in the first place?"

"I'm... not sure."

He snickered as he reverted back to normal. "Most aren't. Even I'm not all that sure. Anyway, enough philosophy for now. First up is Yuki!"

"What kind of technique is Yuki?"

"It's an attack that can slice through the gap in the wind and unleash a devastating attack."

"The wind?"

"Well, not the kind one is usually familiar with. Wind is the movement of bulk air on the surface and of gasses on the surface. The kind I'm talking about is similar, but it involves the movement of energy. Both from the natural environment as well as people. These energies blend together and sometimes even clash. During such moments, there are gaps. Should you send energy through it, it will result in a mighty strike just like a bolt of lightning falling from heaven without any air resistance to weaken it."

"I see," I said, raising Aventine in front of me as I closed my eyes. Mist-like substance moved around us. It was thickest around my uncle and me, but it was everywhere. I waited to see the gap between the mana, but they moved around like waves in a tempest.

This could take a while...

**Solar Note: Hope that you enjoyed the chapter^_^! Thoughts? Theories/predictions?**