"Are you sure about this?" I asked as I twirled Carlos in front of me.

Hideo nodded. "Yeah. I need someone to test my strength against. You were the first person I lost to as a wielder of Donato. If I can overcome you, then that'll mean I've grown."

I smirked. "So, I'm a sort of measuring stick for you. Alright, then!"

"What's going on here?" a voice called out. We glanced at the western entrance and saw a white-haired kid with red eyes. He wore tight-fitting gray robes.

"Who are you?" Hideo asked.

The kid crossed his arms over his chest. "I asked first, Mister."

Hideo grumbled. "Sassy brat."

"We were about to train," I responded.

"Oh right, you're the ones that Papa has been teaching."

"Papa? Wait, are you Kaliq's son?"

He nodded. "Yes, I am!" He glanced around. "Now, where is that guy who hit me with his shield?"

I chuckled. "If I'm not misremembering, you were the one who bumped into it."

The kid's face reddened. "I did not! He hit me!"

I put a hand on my hips and sighed. "Even if he did, you did jump at us out of nowhere."

He lowered his head. "Is that bad?"

Hideo gave the kid a sad smile. "You don't get out much, do you?"

He shook his head. He took a deep breath and peered at the pale floor. "Papa usually wants me to stay home due to my heath." He raised his head and smiled. "He allowed me to come here today as I've been a good boy!"

"I see," Hideo said, patting the kid's head. "Want to watch our match?"

The kid beam and nodded. "Yeah! Papa that I might learn a little on using my angel powers by watching you."

"Alright, but we should find you a safe place to watch from. Unfortunately, that cousin of mine is still asleep." He laughed. "And to think he called me lazy."

Huh. For a guy who got into an argument with a little girl over some spilled juice, he's actually good with kids.

"I can create a barrier for him," I said.

"You can make barriers?" Hideo asked, eyes wide.

I leered at him. "What's with that shocked expression? You thought I lacked defensive techniques?"

He averted his eyes. "Well, you tend to be the kind of guy who focuses on speed and attack."

I crossed my arms over my chest. "That's just my preferred style, but I have a few other tricks. My master wanted me to be a mage versed in each category of magic. It's the same reason for why he taught me healing magic."

"That's cool. Wish I knew magic."

I paced myself around him and the kid.

"W-what are you doing?" Hideo asked, spinning around.

I smiled. "Don't be alarmed. I'm trying to get a feel of your capability for magic. Truth be told, you probably have the highest amplitude among our group for special attacks, even more so than Hyosetsu and I."

"I think Setsuko mentioned something along those lines too." He pulled out the riffle from his back.

"What kind of weapon is that?" the kid asked as he backed away.

"It's a kind of gun, a rifle to be exact. It's the form my angel tool manifests itself in."

He tilted his head. "Angel tool?"

"Hmm, maybe you know it as Tsukumogami."

"Oh, Papa told me about those! It has a cute little spirit living in inside!"

"Not all of them are cute, some of them are gorgeous, while others are hideous," I said.

"Mine is one of the cute ones," Hideo said, smiling.

I laughed. "You really are a bro-con, aren't you?"

"I'm not!"

I swung my spear, unleashing a heavy wave of air pressure. "Sure, keep telling yourself that." I glanced at Kaliq's kid. "Hope you enjoy the show."

I held out my hand and formed a yellow barrier around the kid and rose him into one of the balconies.

The kid shivered as he peered back at us, however, his fear soon gave way to excitement. "I'm flying!" he shouted, swinging his hands into the air.

Hideo smiled and struck the barrier with a strong gale, sending it higher.

The kid screamed as he spun around inside it. "W-what's going on!"

"I think you might've over done it," I whispered into his ear, causing my fellow knight to jump.

"Stop that! I hate it when people speak into my ear. Especially you. It's creepy."

I snickered as I backed away. I held a hand up and stabilized the barrier.

"I-I stopped! Though that was kind of fun!" the kid said, laughing.

I placed him into the closest balcony. "Well, that's enough sky-high fun for now! Sit back and enjoy our spar now!"

"You sound like an entertainer," Hideo said.

I shrugged. "Well, I did want to be one when I was a kid."

His jaw dropped. "Huh? Really?"

I nodded. "Yeah. It was back when I was learning magic with my master. I wanted to entertain others with it, to hear their applause and cheers raining down at me from all directions!"

"Why did you give up on that dream?"

I lowered my gaze and tapped the floor with my right foot. "Mom said I was meant for greater things." I closed my eyes and smiled. "She was right in the end."

"Was she?"

I opened my eyes and saw a look of concern. "I was born as the eldest child in the marriage between two Grand Dukes. I have little say in my future."

"Well, I'm the heir of a duchy too, and I still have my own goals," Hideo said, furrowing his brow.

I laughed.

"W-why are you laughing?" he asked, taking a step back.

"S-sorry," I said, trying to regain control of myself. "It's just, I'm not used to having others beside my mom and cousin worrying about me."

"Wait, what about your dad and brother? They seemed concerned about you too. Especially the former."

I gasped. "Really?"

"You might not recall, but your dad stepped in to protect you from my peasant cousin's fury. Plus, he did go and check up on you after your spar with Hyosetsu."

"Oh, I remember that last one." I smiled. "I guess that he does care, even though he often chides me for my actions."

"Hmm, I'm not usually on the receiving end of them, but I think parents do that because they care. They need to educate us." He closed his eyes. "Maybe mine should've been harsher with me."

I laughed again.

"Ehh? What's so funny this time?"

I took a deep breath. "Sorry, I should stop doing that." I pointed Carlos at him and smiled. "You've grown, Hide."

His face reddened. "I have? But we haven't battled yet."

"That's not what I meant, but I have a feeling that you'll surprise me."

He grinned. "You got that right!" He jumped into the air and sent a barrage of wind bullets at me.

I jumped back, avoiding the concentrated downpour of bullets. Seemed he got control down. Before, he would attack at various directions like crazy, wasting precious mana.

I glanced up and saw a smile on his face.

I peered back at the holes on the floor, they were glowing.

I jumped up and dashed backwards as I charged electricity into my spear.

"Whatever you're planning, it won't work! Indra's Judgment!" I yelled as soon as my feet struck the wall of the cylindrical room. I threw Carlos at the direction of the glowing holes. The energy Carlos packed was so great that a crater covering half of the area of the room formed.

Hideo gulped.

I laughed. "What? Having second thoughts?"

He held his hand up and formed a sphere of wind.

I blinked. What was that?

The teen grasped the ball tightly, sending a massive wave of wind at all directions. Once the winds cleared, he was gone.

"A distraction?" I asked. My eyes widened as I felt something cold against the back of my head.

"It doubles as one, but that wasn't the main point."

I snickered. "A teleportation spell? Never seen one like that."

He grinned. "I developed it some time ago. Only had a few chances to use it."

I chuckled. "I see." I moved from where I flew and appeared behind him. With a swing of my spear, I sent the youngest knight of our order flying toward the opposite side of the room.

Hideo gritted his teeth and halted himself with a gust of wind against the back.

"You have forgotten about my speed it seems." I rushed over at him and aimed for the nape of his neck. However, an emerald aura grasped my spear.

Hideo smiled. "I didn't want to use this form against you, but it seems I have to take a page from my peasant cousin's book."

I smirked. "Right, he had to rely on second-heaven to defeat me." I flew away from him and dashed upward. I raised Carlos toward the ceiling and unleashed a torrent of electricity in all directions.

Hideo held out his hands and formed a sphere of wind all around him, pushing the lightning that came his way.

He smirked as he flew closer to me. "You're wasting your mana," he said.

I smiled. The blue lightning changed direction, coming together to form a single bolt.

Hideo gasped and thrusted his hands in front of him, gathering more wind to shield himself. He grumbled as the blast of lightning pushed him back.

"Is that all your Second Heaven form can do?"

"Not at all!" he yelled. The emerald aura around him intensified further and merged with the barrier around him.

I smirked as the wind tore through my attack.

"See that!"

I nodded. "Yeah. Not bad, kid."

He raised his riffle at me. "I'm going to shoot you down from there," he said, leering at me.

"Oh, then how about I move?" I said, appearing behind him.

He smiled and flicked his hand back. A wave of green wind flung out from the barrier like a solar storm and grabbed hold of me before I could even react. No matter how much I thrashed, I could escape its hold. Not that it gave me much time to attempt escaping it as my back struck the crater I had made earlier.

I stabbed the air with Carlos, pushing the wind away from me to prevent it from pushing me deeper into the ground.

"How do you like my new technique?" he asked. "Setsuko helped me come up with it."

I chuckled as I pushed myself up. "Figures. I noticed her working on some techniques involving her Second Heaven aura."

"Hmm, where are you going? I'm not done yet," he said before shooting several rounds of bullets.

I held Carlos in front of me and spun it, blocking each of the bullets. "You're better off using those aura attacks."

Hideo clapped his hands, sending vertical blades of wind flying out from where his palms met.

I swatted the air in front of me, wiping up a gust of my own. Unfortunately, it didn't move them much. Fortunately, I didn't need them to.

I covered Carlos in blue lightning and threw it up at him.

Hideo dodged out of the way but not enough to avoid the range of my electricity. He grumbled as his right arm came in contact with my lightning.

"Seems that your aura can't protect you entirely," I said, grinning.

He smiled as the electricity in his arm gradually took away. "I don't need it to. Don't forget, my aura can heal me."

I scoffed. Right, it healed him in his match against the peasant.

I held out my hand, recalling Carlos back to my hand. "You better remember not to over use those abilities."

Hideo took a deep breath.

I zipped over to him and struck his side, sending him flying into a pillar. "You thought I was going to let you replenish?"

Hideo grimaced as he clenched his side. "I was hoping that my aura barrier would've protected me from that one."

I smiled and shrugged. "Well, as you perfectly see, or feel, there are gaps in your defenses. You better hope that the peasant has stronger defenses than you."

He scoffed as he stood up. "I don't plan to rely on that guy to protect me."

I smiled. "Not a bad idea. We are better off independently developing our skills. That said, I do hope that Hyosetsu was right about him developing a power capable of turning things around in this war."

Hideo stepped forward as his aura began flickering.

"Are you out of energy?" I asked as I drew closer.

He gripped his riffle and smiled. "Gale Bullet!" he yelled, shooting at me. The force of recoil sent him flying against the wall. He smiled as he watched his bullet fly at me. The bullet wasn't unlike the others he had sent my way. This one was cloaked in the aura of Second Heaven.

I dashed up, but the bullet followed after me like some kind of homing missile. I held out my hands and casted a barrier like the one I had made for Kaliq's kid.

I gasp escaped my lips as my yellow sphere shattered upon contact with the bullet. I formed another, but that one was taken down as well.

I smirked as the bullet exploded a few inches from me. The force from the bullet ripped through the room.

I was right about you. You have grown even in terms of power, Hide. I chuckled as I stared up at the ceiling. How did I go from being one of the strongest knights to being one of the weakest? If only I could use Second Heaven like the rest of you... then I would reclaim my proper place.

"Hurry up and learn how to activate it, then you won't have an excuse when you lose to me again," the peasant's voice echoed in my head.

I held out my left hand as I started to fall back to the ground. A yellow aura appeared around it. I smiled as I struck the ground. So close...

**Solar Note: Hope that you enjoyed the chapter :)**