A breeze blew into the open training ground from the surrounding sky. Her nerves rose as she walked on the old concrete and into her position. Her feet were shoulder width apart, knees bent, hands raised in front of her face. Ready for a fight.

Pillars, boxes, and shapes made of cyan light formed and hardened around the battlefield. Some were on the ground, while others floated about. The sound of heels clicking against the stone floor echoed through the air as her mother stood on the other end of the grounds, her red and gold spear in hand.

"Read, Ever?" her mother asked.

"Ready," Ever said with a smirk. Her mother slashed her spear sideways as a slice of cyan light shot from it. Ever jumped onto the nearest platform, dodging the light before punching the air, sending violet bullets of light from her fist.

Her mother put her hand outward, creating a barrier of hard light in front of her. The bullets smashed into the shield, breaking on impact. Her mother pointed at the platform Ever was on and bent her wrist upward. The platform started rising as Ever jumped off.

The mother pointed at another box and quickly directed it into Ever while she was in air, sending her rolling on the ground.

Ever got on her hands and knees as she heard her mother's voice.

"Again!" her mother shouted. Ever quickly got up and began racing towards her. Throwing her fists behind her, she created a blast of light, sending her flying towards her mother. Once she was close, Ever threw punches at her, each one missing as her mom danced around them.

Throwing another punch, Ever felt her mother's hand grab her wrist. She pulled her closer, and she placed her other hand on Ever's stomach before blasting her away with a small burst of light.

Ever flew backwards before crashing and rolling onto the ground again. She got onto her hands and knees, panting and out of breath.

"You can't rely on strength to carry you through each battle, Ever. Use what your opponent has given you. Now, go again!"

Ever's anger boiled inside as she felt her hair ignite into violet flames. She walked towards a cyan pillar and slammed her fist into it, sending it falling forward. Her mother extended her arm and guided the pillar aside as a loud bang rang through the air.

Ever slide to a halt at her mom's side. She reeled her arm back and landed a hard punch. The pillar crashed onto the ground and Ever unleashed a barrage of attacks, each stronger than the last, until her mother rolled out of the way.

Ever followed her and threw another punch, only for her mom to throw her arms up, creating a wall of light that hardened around Ever's arm.

"What? This isn't fair!" Ever yelled, hair blazing hotter. She tried pulling her arm out but the frozen wall of light kept it incased.

"In a fight, you do what you need to do to win. You would be able to do more if you'd actually learn the proper techniques," her mom said.

"My style works just fine," Ever said, rolling her eyes.

"Ever," she said, placing her hand on her shoulder. "I'm not trying to discourage you from doing things your way. We just don't have time to mess around,"

"You keep saying that, but you never tell us what we're even training for. You haven't told me, or Ethan, or Tallis, or even Ashe. He's our team leader and he doesn't even know what he's leading us for!" Ever said. Her mother gently raised her hand and unfroze the light wall. Ever pulled her arm close to her as the objects of light disappeared around them.

"You are the protectors of Phosphor," her mother explaines.

"What are we protecting it from? The Creatures of the Dark? We're already strong enough to kill them,"

"Ever, just please trust me," the mom pleaded. "I understand that nothing makes sense, but I'm keeping this information secret for a reason. You'll know when the time comes. We finished the session today. You did really well."

Her mother walked past her and towards the exit, the click of her heels growing smaller and smaller as Ever stayed standing there. She stood silently until her mother had left.

"This town is secluded so what threat could there be?" she whispered to herself. "What are you hiding from us?"

Ever and her mother will return in White Light: Rising.