Chapter 1: Enter Team Omega

"The Start of A New Legacy...!"

"RELEASE!" Alice's pole split again almost catching the woman off guard and narrowly taking the hood off. Alice using the other half attacked again only to be blocked but this time the woman in the robe was flying from the impact. Richard ran fast and then try to take her down but despite that, the woman created a second sword this one made of ice to block his dagger.

"You're kidding! IS THERE'S ANYTHING YOU CAN'T DO?!" Richard said in disbelief. How are they facing such a powerful core? Man and all of this just to show his rival who was better. What a way to be welcomed back to the game.

(Earlier today Lycée High, France April 11th, 2036)

A 16-year-old boy walks to school. That boy had short brown curtained hair with two spiked locks on the top of his hair that were both going left and right while his skin was very peachy. His eyes were an ocean blue as for the way he was dressed consisted of: black long pants, with a white shirt covered by a blue jacket. His name was Richard Kurosagi.

As Richard was walking through the gates of Lycée, someone called him from behind.

"Richard!" Richard turns to the voice to see a girl running toward him.

"Oh, hey Alice!" Richard greeted her with his usual grin. Alice Hishikawa a beautiful Japanese girl with light brown skin. Her long red hair that cascaded until it reached her upper part of her forearm was tied with a silver Ponytail holder and trimmed into a hime-cut hairstyle. She was a year younger than Richard and about two inches less tall. Her body slim but well figure was very mesmerizing to most of the boys in this school. Her light green eyes could be mistaken to be that of emerald as for her dress it consisted of a short black skirt a little below her knees, a red shirt that has a white kitten with the Kanji words Precious Kitty which, is almost hidden by her dark red jacket and black shoes. She also wears a black necklace that hung a fake ruby stone the size of a small pearl.

"Oh, you still have that too, huh?" Alice tilted her head confuse before realizing what he meant when he pulled something out of his pocket. The thing in his hand was a white necklace with a fake diamond-shaped sapphire dangling in it.

"Oh! Yeah, I never leave without it." She told him while looking at her pearl-shaped ruby.

"It's been almost three years now, right?" Alice nodded.

"Yeah...I wonder where she is right now?"

"Well, wherever she is...I'm sure she is making more friends," Richard replied with an enthusiastic grin. Alice nodded again before remembering what she was going to say to him.

"Oh yeah! By the way Richard-kun, I heard there were going to reopen Omega in the Omega Arcade Station today," she stated to the brown-haired boy.

"Yeah, I heard it too. I was planning to go after school, actually." Richard informed her. Lycée High School commonly known as LHS was a very prestigious school that held some of the brightest students in all France. It was constructed of four buildings that were a bit distant from each other.

The first one was the classroom building, which had different types of room. From labs to theaters the big building was recognizable because of its color which was brown.

The second the cafeteria was a very wide mess hall that was painted in sky blue.

Finally, the third dorm, which had two floors was designed for students from around France that were too far from the school to stay allowing them to save money for having to take the Hoover bus every day resulting in very exhausting students.

"That's good! Um...maybe we should go together... And, well maybe..." Alice felt a bit nervous. A tint of red appearing on her cheek. Alice and Richard had been childhood friends ever since the brown-haired boy saved her from bullies when she was around 6. Ever since that day, Alice has had a crush that eventually became more than just a puppy one. Before she could even finish what she was about to say to Richard however someone spoke to them...

"Hey, Guys!" They turn to the voice to see a boy.

"Huh?"

"Frederick." Alice greeted the boy. Frederick Santos, Bron in Guadalajara, Mexico, and raised here in Paris was a boy of the same age as Richard. The boy had spiky medium black hair while his skin was leaning toward peach unlike Richard's who was already peach. He was an inch less tall and was a bit more built-in muscles than the brown-haired boy a trait that his father has and still does as he was a former military lieutenant. He has brown eyes and was dressed in blue short pants below his knees, brown shirt, brown shoes, and the school's blue jacket.

"Huh? Oh, you still have your necklaces?" Frederick asked seeing both of them holding them.

"Yeah. We did make a promise to hold them until we met again." Alice replied to him.

"That's good, you three were great friends back then...although she was a bit older than you guys if I can recall." He then ponders a bit before snapping his fingers. "Oh yeah, you heard the news, right?" Frederick asked them with a hint of excitement.

"Yeah, I was going with Alice after we finish school today," Richard answered.

"Great then I'll accompany you two." Frederick smiled.

"Sounds good after all we have been friends ever since elementary." Richard and Alice met Frederick during their third year of elementary school and ever since then have been together.

"You okay with it Alice?" Alice quickly snapped back to reality since she was just a bit disappointed that she couldn't tell the brown-haired boy what she had in mind.

"Eh? Er, Yeah...sure." Alice said before giving a deep sigh. This was an issue that the long red-haired had ever since she has tried to reciprocate her feelings to the brown-haired boy, If no one interfered she either let her fears get the best of her by just stating a random topic or whenever Richard got very close...she fainted.

('And just when I finally mustered to...') Her trail of thoughts was cut off by the sound of the bell indicating that classes were about to start so they decided to go to their first period: Math.

()

The group went to Math class where Frederick sat two chairs away from Alice and Richard like in every class they took while Alice sat to the right next to Richard. Classes passed fast and it became Lunch break.

The three of them always sat together at the lunch table. They were rectangular crystal tables meaning 350 students could sit inside while the others could just take their lunch and eat it outside where they were bleachers and some extra tables with umbrellas to shade them from the burning ultra-violets of the sun. The place looked like a giant buffet restaurant. It had a different variety of food; from burgers to even Sushi. Right now the group of three teens was on the east cornered table that was three tables close to the exit door.

"I heard Omega has the same levels so not much changed I'm guessing some of the guardians must be the only new changes." Frederick started to say to Richard.

"Oh, then I guess if it is a modified version of the same game I guess I will beat you like the last 10 times we played last year." Richard pointed out to Frederick while drinking his soda.

In 2031, the station's grand opening released a game called Omega. The game rules are basically to purify the cores of each level by destroying the corrupted ones, which are then, replaced by new and clean ones.

There are 8 levels in the game and each of them has a medal with a guardian who protects the core, whoever collects all 8 medals and reach the sky tower they will enter the final stage which consists in a fight against Seifer an evil warrior whose only goal is to destroy the levels and turn the Omega world into complete darkness all you have to do to end the game was to defeat him.

That basically is the story mode of the game for those who were new and not ready for the competitive side. That competitive sides were team battles and one on one competition, which would give the players a chance to battle one another to see who the better team or competitor is. Individual battles were put for only one-on-one battles, the player who took the other down won. As for the team battles, each year was different. Originally the first year that Omega introduced the team battle consisted of only 4 players in each group. You need four classes to compete in the game.

The first one was the speedster or scout. This player uses his speed to scout the area stealthy in order to inform his teammates, this way their teammates will devise strategies in order to outsmart the opponent and win.

The second class was the Powerhouse. This class is the team's attacker and like the name stated the most powerful in terms of offense on the team, this person would battle the other powerhouse player or the leader of the team. This was very important because the powerhouse is one of the only two classes that could break through strong defenses.

The third class was named Wall or Defender. This class's purpose was to defend the teammates from attacks from the adversaries using strong shields or even his/her own body. Due to being a defender, this class has the highest amount of defense and health in the game with the last class reaching over 1400 hit points.

The last class and the most important was The Core. This player was the leader of the group. Its ability is quite special since it can become one of the classes making it the only dual-class in the game...the only weakness that the core has from the others is that once it is defeated the game is automatically over. Also, the ability Core Shift can only be used twice per battle making the core a very important piece similar to the scout. However, over the year two new classes were added to the game.

The first one was the Sniper, and as the name states, it is the class given to those who have long-range weapons.

The final one added was Supporter. This player would support the team using a variety of creations and illusions that allow his teammates to blend in the environment and catch the opponent off guard. It also might be a healer but those are very rare in the world of Omega Since the only class with that ability is the Elf Archers. Richard was so good at the game that he always defeated the other competitors. He was so good that he won last year's world tournament before they had to shut it down for their yearly maintenance.

"I let you win." Frederick retorted a bit.

"Yeah, right I kicked your butt a lot." Richard taking the bite out of his lunch that was a meat sandwich stated.

"Even so Frederick, Richard is too good for the game after all he is the current Omega champion not to mention he also has won every tournament that our school put in." Alice pointed out as she nibbled on her fruit salad.

"Yeah too bad the loser had to end up getting beat in the semifinals." said someone arrogantly that they very well recognize.

"Oh, it's you." Richard bit annoyed looks in disgust at his rival who's smirks at his words.

"Harry Kishima," Alice told which angered Richard's rival.

"That's Mr. Harrison to you!!" he yelled at her offended that someone with such low class has the audacity to called him by his full name.

"Hey, you don't have to yell at her." Richard retorted back with a glare. Harry Kishima also is known as Master Harrison by everyone else was not only a famous Omega player, but his father Leos Kishima owns the Omega Arcade Station the home of Omega. He is also a 3-time world tournament champion of Omega winning them all in a row making him the undefeated champion and he would've continued to be so if it wasn't for last year's tournament when Richard defeated him ruining his chance of being the undefeated champion for the 4th straight year.

He was the same age as him the same height and weighed around one to two pounds more than him. He has medium-short black hair that was spiked to the sides due to the amount of gel he put in his hair leaving it a bit like a small slicked porcupine, dark brown eyes, while his skin was a bit paler than Richard's. The boy was always dressed in style because of his family's fortune. He is currently wearing a black shirt, red pants, and black shoes, along with black colored shades while holding the blue jacket on his left shoulder.

"You couldn't beat the best," Harry stated with overconfidence to his brown-haired rival.

"Yes, he could. After all, he beat you in the finals of last year's world tournament." Frederick pointed out.

"He got lucky that time!" Harry sneered and glared in anger.

"Suure he did," Alice replied.

"Heh, let see how that attitude change when I take this loser out. After the maintenance, the rankings were upped and now there's a new class put into the game. So it will be easier to wipe the floor with you," Harry stated while pointing his index finger at Richard with a smirk.

"Oh yeah, we'll see Harry," Richard replied before said rival scoffed at his remark.

"Later Losers the Harrison doesn't talk to people that are beneath his class." with that Harry put his glasses and left them to eat, and by eating is eat the food his family's chef serve him he would not eat the food that the losers that he was talking to were eating. No, caviar or lobster will do.

"Can you believe that guy?" Alice annoyed growled.

"Yeah, but at least we know what to expect," Richard replied taking a sip of his Molten Cola.

"I guess so. Although, I wonder what he meant by the new ranking?" That is where Frederick went to his PDA which was a small black oval that could be easily put in your own pants or jean pockets.

"Let see...here it is." Frederick shows the site to his friends.

"According to this...they say that they're two new levels of ranking and one new class: Magical. It says here that this class will specialize in magical circles that will provide elements to the other members of the team such as fire, ice, lighting, etc." Frederick explained.

"That's awesome!"

"So are we still heading there, Rick?"

"Of course" Richard Drank some of the Molten Cola

"After all its been a long time since I have face Harry and this is my chance to show him that it wasn't luck that made me the last champion of Omega." Finished drinking the soda he felt refresh as he kicked the can that went in the trashcan which automatically opened when the soda can approach.

()

After finishing their remaining classes the group of three walks toward the streets of Paris. The city of Paris has changed the Eiffel Tower the classic symbolizing tower was the only structure that remains unchanged in this city in commemoration of their past achievements. The futuristic Paris now has many different company skyscraper buildings inside the city, which is not too far from the school just three blocks from it the cars were running on the streets while others were hovering on the street while some the most expensive ones were flying above the sunny skies of the city. The sky was a beautiful blue as the clear white clouds were gently moving slowly.

"That was a great run." Richard takes a deep breath exhausted from all the run since the OAS was four blocks away from where they were.

"Yeah, you said it," Alice said while panting.

"I guess... we need to run some more since we need to pass the gym exams." Frederick pointed out.

"Well, at least Jet is not much of a problem for now," Richard said knowing how his gym teacher is he swears that the guy was more than just a commander chief of the F.M.D. which stands for France Military Defenders the name given to the strongest military forces of all France, fortunately, the school is in Bordeaux and not Paris otherwise I think they'll skip this class considering the rumors about that school.

They all look at the station...The Omega Arcade Station or OAS for short is a building that not only holds the Paris Express, which is the biggest train station in France but it also holds fast foods and a lot of different games with the main game being Omega.

"Well?" Richard looked at his friends before they nod. They went in. The place was crowded with people from 13 years to even some adults. On the 42-inch flat-screen T.V. of each fast food court, they were announcing trailers for new games, products, and movies.

"Just as big as I remember it! I hope Pinher is still here...Man I love his pizzas!" Richard said with energy.

"Well we will have time but we have to hear the ceremony speech first." Frederick reminded them.

"I can't wait. Hey, Richard, I was wondering, if, um, after we finish playing in Omega, you..." before Alice finish, Richard yelled loudly with excitement...

"Let's go, guys!" Richard runs excitedly.

"Right behind you Rick!" Frederick follows and Alice sighs.

"Hey wait up guys!" she followed behind them.

"Hello and welcome to the reopening of our most famous game in the station Omega!" The President of the Omega Arcade Station Leos Kishima said and everyone Cheers. Leos is Harry Kishima's father and the owner of Omega the biggest online virtual game in the world, in which they are millions of those games worldwide not to mention all the subscribers that Leos have, which are exactly 2,400,304,938. He is distinguished as a 40-year-old man, dressed in a gray business suit. His eyes and hair color are the same as Harry's. "As you see we were close because of some strange difficulties but we're back and better than ever so without further ado let's reopen this famous entertainer and let the battle begin" Leos announced as Everyone Cheer again.

"I can't wait I'm getting Goosebumps by just standing here," Richard said impatiently if there is something Richard hated was waiting in line.

"Whoa calm down Rick," Frederick said to ease him but Richard simply was too excited to even listen to his friend.

"Alright let get it on!" Richard raised his hand in excitement making Frederick jumped back a little.

"You better leave him like this you know how he is. He'll never stop until he fights an opponent. Besides..." Alice stares at Richard and smiles. "This is not the first time he has fought in this world." Frederick nods in agreement.

"Okay next." A holographic girl said. This girl was about 15 years old and had pink bunny ears. She was dressed in a white skirt and blue blouse and has a golden bow attached to her back that was long enough to almost touch the ground.

"Finally is our turn!" Richard said excitedly as they reach it.

"Names Please." The holographic bunny girl said with excitement.

"Richard Kurosagi."

"Alice Hishikawa."

"Frederick Santos."

"Okay now next please tell me the name of your team and who is going to be your core and your class."

"Oh, Er...Well..." Richard said a bit unsure. They have never teamed up before so this is the first time they actually going to be a team together as in all three of them.

"How about the Loser team that names fit you, dolts, great." someone suggested. As they turn, they see none other than Harry with his trademark smirk.

"Harry!" Richard said.

"See you inside Omega, Losers. The Master it's going to show you how it's done," Harry said as he went to one of the teleporters. The teleporter also is known as téléporteur were big round circles colored in different colors. they were a total of 24 teleporters and have a total of 8 different colors one for each group of 8 if they were facing in a three on three battle. Once you stepped in one you were given an assigned color with your teams they were: blue, red, purple, green, yellow, orange, black, and white. Once assigned transparent tubes appeared from above and you were engulfed in a bright light that would teleport you inside the world of Omega. Once you were defeated, you would be teleported back and the transparent tube would disappear.

"I know of a name for our team," Alice said snapping her fingers after thinking for a while.

"Really?!" Alice nodded.

"Just tell me your classes and I'll do the rest, Okay?" Alice asked them and they tell her.

"Mine is scouter, you got to love speed," Richard told her.

"I prefer long-range though so put me on sniper."

"Sniper, and scouter...got it! Just stay here I'll be right back." Alice told the boys before she starts talking to the bunny girl who in turn introduced herself as the M.C. of this year. As the talk between the two females (one holographic and one real) continues Frederick looks through the teleporters to find one that was distinct to the others...

"Hey, Richard have you ever notice the teleporter in the middle on the upper deck," Frederick said as he and Richard look at the transparent tube that had a glowing white circle.

"Yeah what about it?" Richard said not losing his eyes on the teleporter in front of them.

"Well, it has been like that for a while. Don't you think it is strange?" Frederick informed him.

"Well...maybe it's someone really skillful after all we aren't the only ones that had played this game before," Richard said in which Frederick nods in agreement but not before staring at the circle with a thoughtful look. Alice arrives with a big smile on her face.

"Alright guys you're ready?" she asks them.

"Boy do we!" Richard said excitedly.

"Alright then let's go," Alice said as she goes to the small silver staircase and runs to the left corner where she stood and a blue circle appeared. The others followed and their teleporters became blue also.

"Is everyone ready?!" everyone nods when the M.C. asked. "Alright, the level is...Icicle World! The requirements are three classes that's including the core..."

"Oh great the Ice one." (Man, I hate that one.) Richard thought bitterly. He hated this level the most. Despite being a scouter he was not very good at slippery places, not to mention he has little balance sometimes in this slippery level.

"Entering Omega...Now!!" The tubes quickly appeared and the three teenagers were engulfed with a bright yellow light after a few seconds all players were not on earth anymore.

"Alright is go time!" Richard said as he lands on the level's icy floor. Ice Omega was a slippery level, not the favorite of many. It was very difficult to maneuver by Scouters hence why it was voted by them as their least favorite stage of the game. It was dusk as the aurora in the sky could be seen clearly. Some igloo homes were surrounding the snowy and freezing field with an old-style market on the right. If they were playing, the game people will be residing in the homes and a marketer would be selling food and some improved weapons. But since they are playing a team battle there is no one around with the exception of the players. Richard appeared as a young traveler with white clothes and light brown old-style shoes his weapon was a blade similar to a Kris dagger, which he holds in his back tied with a white cloth band as the blade is hidden in a brown leather scab. His blue diamond necklace was dangling on his neck freely.

"Rick any spots I can take?" Frederick appeared as an elf with green pants, a green shirt, black shoes, and a black mask covering his eyes with a bow and arrows. The bow was covered in green moss and it seemed to have been used for three hundred years but despite it, the bow worked as if it was brand new. From his line of vision, he saw nothing but snow and ice.

"Yeah, a mountain on the east not so far from where you're standing," Richard said through the intercom while running through the icy field. He had to be careful so he didn't slip. The devices are almost invisible to the naked eye only being a 1cm clipped silver earplug with a strong sound in order for the ear to hear.

"Huh?" What did he mean?! He saw nothing...! Richard appears beside him in a blur making Frederick jump and fall on his back.

"Hi!" Richard salutes the black-haired boy who grunted and stood up in anger.

"GAH!! Don't do that!!" Frederick yelled before taking some snow off his head. He almost forgot how ridiculous Richard's speed is inside Omega.

"Guys? Where are you?" Alice asked through her intercom.

"We're near an ice mountain...er, wait I'll tell you the coordinates," Richard told her as he gave the red-haired girl the coordinates. "I also found some people heading west. Well gotta run, Bye!!" Richard said as he ran so fast that he left snow-dust where he was standing making Frederick caught a bit.

"Wait!" But it was too late the brown-haired boy was gone. Frederick sighed. Sometimes...he can be very impatient.

"Don't worry he will be fine. So...you want me to go where you are or..."

"No, No is fine is better if we split up and cover more ground. I'm heading to where our speedy scouter told me was a clear view of the environment."

"Okay, good luck...Now then...Where should I go?" Alice looks at her surrounding which pretty much is a desolated wasteland...or ice land in this case with nothing but snow...The aurora in the sky was beautiful thou. Alice appeared as a beautiful maiden priestess dressed in a red on the top and white on the lower part feudal priestess dress along with a red bead necklace in addition of her necklace that she held. Her weapon was a red pole that split in two revealing a chain that attached both parts, which she used to snare her opponents.

"I think it is time to show these losers what a real team works. Ready?" Harry said looking at his teammates, which were robots.

"Yes, Master." Harry is a warrior dressed in brown clothes and brown boots while his weapon is a Big buster sword. In addition, his teammates are two robots colored gray along with red eyes. They were a bit taller than Harry being two inches taller to be exact. One of them was armed with a silver laser gun and the other with a dark blue battle-ax.

()

"Hmm, I wonder where everyone went now?" Richard said a bit confused while looking at the vast wasteland of ice. He hasn't found anyone until now....he wonders what happened? They were here a few minutes ago.

"Rick was right. This should be a good spot." Frederick said looking for people on top of the Ice Mountain that Richard spots for him. Having the high ground is a huge advantage for the masked elf, giving him enough time no pun intended to snipe some unexpected players. so far no luck nor info from the brown-haired teen.

"Where did everybody go?" Alice keeps looking, finding no one in her search. Hmm, by now she would've found someone. She hopes it is not a scouter...that will be the worst-case scenario for her. She is powerful in this class but she is slow. You can't beat what you can't hit.

"Team Valid'S core has been defeated, Team Valid is eliminated...Team Navine Powerhouse has been defeated, Team Navine's Scout has been defeated, Team Navine's Core has been defeated...Team Navine is eliminated." Alice hears through her intercom.

"Well...at least that's one powerhouse out of the way. Uh~, why did I chose that class anyway?!" Alice questioned herself. She could have been the new magical class or a supporter, that would've been a better choice for her. She shook her head.

"No, I have to be strong! My teammates might need someone to break a strong wall." Alice said now knowing the reason why she chose that class if they faced one of the team's wall they would have been pretty much in a jam since the only three classes that can defeat it are: Powerhouse with its raw power, Scout with its speed and a little luck, and last but not least the core which could turn into any of the aforementioned. Magical is still new so she doesn't know how strong that class is against a wall class.

"Well, moping and whining won't help us win this match plus...I want to see Richard-kun kicks Harry's butt." Alice continues her long search for the opponent that will eventually show up.

()

Richard still searches but to no avail. WHERE IS EVERYBODY?!

"Man, where did everyone go?!" Richard was disappointed, his first-team match and so far not a single scout, powerhouse, wall, sniper, heck not even a supporter! He'll take the new magical class!! Anything!! At least that would give him a warm-up or something!

As he continues to look he spotted someone. It was a mysterious woman dressed in a brown robe covering her face but you can still tell it was female due to it's slender and mature body.

"Finally!" Richard shouts as the mysterious woman sees him and tries to flee from him. "Ah! Wait!" he starts running after her. No way he will let her escape!! He finally found someone to fight!

Frederick's is looking for an opponent when he sees Richard.

"Hmm, is that Richard? Well, it looks like he found someone." Frederick said looking at Richard chasing the woman all over the sector.

"Hey Wait up." The Mysterious woman stops but then surprises the teen by summoning a Zweihänder and slashing making a line that cut through the ice. Richard using his speed dodged the attack easily before taking out his Kris dagger and getting into a defensive stance. He has to be careful...that could've been a critical one shot!

"Caught me by surprise there," Richard said before the woman unleashes another slash that lifts a chunk of ice. Richard dodge the slash before he sees the chunk of ice being hurled his way. Him using his Kris dagger got ready to slash the ice but being a scouter he might not be able to...Luckily he is not any ordinary scouter. He is the core of this team!

"Core Shift: Powerhouse!" Richard felt his speed decrease but his strength increases tenfold and with a grunt slashed through the ice leaving small particles flying to the ground. The woman took this opportunity to do an overhead slash with the giant sword only for the boy to stop the sword with his dagger.

"As much as I hate lowering my speed...It seems I really need to in order to defeat you!!" The woman didn't respond instead she just pointed to the ground behind him and then a spike of ice was formed. Richard dodged and charged with his newfound strength clash with her sword before backing her off. The woman tries to skew him with the spiked made of ice but the brow-haired teen rolls out of harm's way resulting in the spike getting stuck on the soft snow. After rolling he looks up to see something extraordinary...and at the same time dangerous.

"Whoa...So, this is what a magical is capable of." Right in front of him were a lot of small spikes made of ice being held by a strange light aura and the one commanding them all with one hand was the mysterious woman. Yes, this was the power of Magicals using their Capacity Power as mana in order to use these attacks. THEY ARE SO OP!!

("Guess I have no choice but to shift back, that is if I don't want to be a kebab.") The woman prepared her attack and with a push of her hand hurled all of the spikes toward him.

"Core Shift: SCOUT!!" Richard shouted before feeling his speed coming back before he rapidly dodges and slashes through some of them. Before he could dispose of the last of them the woman enters the fray and he had no choice but to dodge and block the sword of the woman before using his speed to try and do some max damage on the woman but to no avail as she easily dodged the attack with elegancy. Richard seeing the spike stop in motion saw that the woman motioned to the sky before the spikes came raining down on him giving him only the choice to slash, and dodge the ones he couldn't. This was pretty much a game of cat and mouse with him being the mouse.

("Gotta think quickly.") He gasped as the woman just appeared in front of him at a speed he could only have.

"Core Shift...Scout." That surprised Richard for this woman wasn't only a magical class but a...

"You're a..." Before the woman could do anything she kicked Richard in the stomach and use the momentum to dodge the incoming arrows from the west in slow motion. the brown arrow sticks to the snow.

"Are you okay buddy?" Richard saw Frederick coming his way.

"Frederick." Richard stood up before Frederick look toward the woman with the Zweihänder.

"Looks like we have ourselves a core."

"You were watching?" Frederick nodded.

"You gave me a good spot. Sorry buddy but you're important to lose if you leave we're gone." He had a point if a team's core is defeated that is the same as all of them failing. The core is the heart of everything if it falls...so does everything else.

"So...any ideas on how to take out this ice queen here?" Richard asked his elf buddy as the girl charge at them. Richard blocks the girl's attack but the girl despite being a core overpowers him and backs him off before she starts running in circles dodging Frederick's arrows. Arrow after arrow the elf archer threw as many as he could but the robed core woman used her scout speed to dodge them with ease and charge at him giving the boy little time to only block with his mossy bow.

("Whoa, she's way too strong for being a scout core.") Frederick thought surprised by the immense strength of the woman who with a hard push sent Frederick flying.

"AHH!"

"Frederick!" Richard went after the woman who simply dodges Richard's slash before blocking creating sparks with each collision. The woman saw an opening before using her left arm and grabbing Richard before proceeding to spin him a bit and throwing him to the incoming Frederick who just recovered from being sent flying and landing on a pile of snow only to be thrown again there.

"Hehe, Hi." Richard sheepishly said before getting off him. The two then looked towards the woman who had already had spiked balls of ice ready to throw toward them.

"That...can't be a good sign." Frederick looks at him incredulously.

"YOU THINK?!" The woman then commanded the spiked balls toward them before Fredrick uses his bow and arrows to neutralize some of them while dodging sideways and with backflips. Meanwhile, Richard was using his speed to go through and slash them in order to get closer to the woman who seemed to be waiting for him before blocking his sword which drags her a bit back unleashing some snow-dust as the sound of ice screeched through the section they were battling.

"Not bad." Complimented the woman. "But..." Richard and herself were surrounded by spiked balls. "Not good enough." Richard had no choice but to use his speed to disappear before the rapid spike balls could take him. The crushing sound of ice hitting ice was heard as shards of them fall to the ground. Richard looks around not seeing their core opponent.

"OK? Where she go?" Richard hears the sound of ice molding to see that she was above him with a long Ice spike the size of a tower.

"I...don't think we can stop that," Richard said as Frederick look to see the spike. The woman looks below her for a few seconds contemplating whether or not she would throw it at them before deciding to plunge the tower.

"This is going to hurt a lot," Frederick commented but before their fates could be sealed someone appeared in front of them.

"HAAAAA!!!" Alice using her massive strength courtesy of her class used her pole to hit the spike tower and shattering it into a million pieces.

"Whoa!" Richard was amazed by the sheer force of Alice's attack but then again he did slash something big...Okay, not as big as this but still it was big!

"Are you both alright?!" Alice concerned asked.

"We are thanks to you," Frederick replied. Alice looks at the falling shards that were spiking themselves through the area before the woman lands in the one nearest to them.

"O...Kay. Care to explain who is our mysterious woman opponent?" Alice asked the boys.

"You're asking the wrong people here. This is actually the first time I have seen her in this game." Frederick told her.

"Me too." The woman observed the three of them ready to strike any given moment. She could tell...running away will not be an option with a scouter on their team.

"So...any ideas on how to take her out?" Richard asked.

"How many shifts have you both use?" Frederick asked.

"Well, I used up all of them and it seems so did she since she use a core shift to turn into a scout and since she is throwing spikes, boulders, and now towers...I think she shifted back to magical." Richard explained. He would not lie, this is the most fun opponent he has ever fought against...and the strongest. Nevertheless, she is awesome!!!!

The woman after looking at her three opponents decided to descend and land with a loud crash lifting a huge chunk of snow before proceeding to mold the snow into spiked icicles unleashing it on the three teens. Alice being the powerhouse of the team spin her pole deflecting any incoming icicle spears that came to their ways crushing them into small shards. The woman uses this opportunity to control some of the spikes embedded in the snow and throw them at them. Richard uses one of them and climbs it before using his speed to walk to the end of it before jumping to another coming his way. He was inches there but a third one was going to spike him.

"Richard!" Alice pointed to the third spike before shouting...

"RELEASE!!" The pole split revealing a chain. The released half of the pole goes toward the brown-haired boy before snatching him and dragged him at the last second before the spike landed on the second one and cuts it in half.

"Whoa!! A...LICE!!!" Richard screamed before she releases him after a few spins and sends him flying high before the boy descends at full speed toward the mysterious woman who had time to block the incoming arrows that Frederick was unleashing with a wall of ice before blocking Richard's dagger with her Zweihänder creating a big crater that in the process created icicle spears.

"You're...quite strong." The woman once again complimented.

"Thanks, you too. What's your name?" Richard asked the only answer he received from her was her backing him away and unleashing the same slash that she used on him the first time. Richard sidestepped out of the way before using his speed to try to take her off guard but to no avail since she stopped him by parrying his dagger before kicking him away in order to dodge Alice pole.

"No one hurts my friends," Alice told her before getting into a stance and charging toward the woman who blocked her pole with her sword.

("What is this pole made off?") The woman asked herself since it felt like the pole would break in half regardless of how many time she blocked and attack her.

"RELEASE!" Alice's pole split again almost catching the woman off guard and narrowly taking the hood off. Alice using the other half attacked again only to be blocked but this time the woman in the robe was flying from the impact. Richard ran fast and then try to take her down but despite that, the woman created a second sword this one made of ice to block his dagger.

"You're kidding! IS THERE'S ANYTHING YOU CAN'T DO?!" Richard said in disbelief. The woman just decided to back Alice away since she dotted her as the powerhouse before spiking her Zweihänder and grabbing the chain from Alice's pole before pulling with all her strength and sending the red-haired priestess flying.

"WAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Alice screamed as she shortly after landed on the snow with a puff sound. The woman then blocked Richard who was coming toward her with his Kris dagger. From side steps to ducking the fight rose on before Frederick joined the fray and unleash a full load of arrows which made the two of them dodge some but resume the battle.

"Hey, Frederick! You might want to minimize the number of arrows buddy!" Richard said while dodging a swing from the woman before this one uses her free hand to uppercut him before jumping and kicking him miles away from her with him crashing into one of the nearby icicles. With two out of three down the woman set her gaze on the third member before slashing through some arrows and dodging them with great speed and elegance. Like dancing in a ball the woman dodges every single arrow before rapidly slashing the remaining ones in half.

"You're done?" Her answer was her arm wrapped in a familiar chain. She looks behind to see Alice.

"Nope," Alice told their opponent as she snatched her with her chain.

"We're just getting started," Richard said as he shakes his head to get some of the snow that was stuck in his head. The woman just gazes toward the brown-haired boy, then to the red-haired priestess before she sighed.

"I see...it seems that I have no choice in this matter...Dragonite Diamond...Ragging Sphere." The woman said confusing the three teens.

"Um...What?" Richard tilted his head in confusion.

"But...before I depart...I would like to give you a parting gift." The woman stated before her eyes glowed red paralyzing the two boys.

"What?" Frederick stated unable to move.

"I can't move!"

"Guys!" The woman gaze on the red-haired girl who in that instant froze.

"My, you have grown...I wish we could talk more but..." the woman whispered before with a swift swing of her sword cuts the chain in half.

"Hmm, still fragile on the chain side...Well, I'm sure it'll become as hard as titanium one day." the woman flexed her hand to at least pump some blood in her veins.

"Now then..." She starts walking toward the unmoving brown-haired boy before touching his cheek.

"You're just the spit image of him." He was. Then again...he should because he was...

"Him...?" Richard was a bit confused. What in the world was this woman talking about?

"Maybe you can..." The glowing eyes closed before the woman touched Richard's forehead.

"TRANSFUSION!!" A giant white Pentagon appeared with them in the center before a ray of light is shot into the sky. The light was so bright that the three teens had to shut their eyes. When the light finally faded Richard opened his eyes before realizing one thing.

"Huh?" Richard looks around and then up and even in the snow, he even starts digging with his hand before giving up because it was freaking freezing...and stupid.

"What are you doing?" Frederick looks at his best friend like he was the world's biggest idiot which no lie, the brown-haired boy was when he started digging.

"Oh! Er...well...you wouldn't happen to know where our core enemy went, would you?" Richard sheepishly said to him and he received silence from both of his friends instead.

"I...thought so," Richard said before looking at the sky wondering, what in the real world or Omega happen?!