chapter 11 "preparation"

"hm, now you can try it Halym"

Arva controlled his energy flow.

"got it"

Halym took a stance.

He redirected his energy flow to his right hand.

Sacral, solar plexus, and root energy sources were activated.

-fuuh-

He punched and..

<LOTUS MARK>

-whuuum-

A tremendous pressure could be felt in the entire area. Even the buildings were trembled, almost like a small earthquake.

"whooa, Halym! control your energy output!" Abhin suprised

"I'm sorry sir Abhin. I just think to use all of my energy output.."

"hm, that's not.."

"very effective!. Right Ar?"

Wen looked at Arva.

"hm, that's right"

"I'm doing it wrong then?"

Halym took a breath.

"<LOTUS MARK> is a signature with penetration type. It is spreaded after hit the target, not from the moment you used it" Arva explained

"I see...can you teach me how the detail? the energy flow, output?"

"hm, sure. Take your stance"

"the main thing for this signature is the energy flow. It's started from 40 lof, then you must burst it to 110 lof. Less the delay, more effective it would be"

"aah...somehow I can understand it.."

Halym tried it again. This time, with Arva's suggestion in mind.

"-fuuh- here we go.."

Halym concentrated and released his punch..

<LOTUS MARK>

-sssh-

-whuuum-

This time, Halym did it exactly like Arva did.

Arva nodded and showed a "you did a great job" expression. (tho Arva face hardly made any change)

"whooa, that's totally different than before. It's faster and consume less energy"

"hm, that's the purpose of that signature. You can use it continously and without any delay"

"cool! I'll try to remember it"

Halym felt confident.

"hm, try to spar with Kerly again. This time, keep your third eye and crown energy source. Remember to use the signature"

"got it sir Arva"

"ok then. This time I'll full go 100%."

Wen took his stance.

-whuuss-

Wen used his full speed. Halym responded with a really good timing.

He tried to use his body as natural as he could. Energy flow, output, sources, capacity, all of it was must controlled by him.

-whuuum-

A sharp front kick came to his center body. Halym dodged it and prepared to counter him.

<LOTUS MARK>

-blaar-

Wen managed to dodge it. He smiled and dashed to his opponent.

He spinned himself really fast and when the gap between them was getting closer..

<FLASH WHIP>

A super fast kick wiped his left body.

Halym reacted fast enough to block it, yet his body pushed for around one meter.

"-kkgghh- I definitely can't see that attack.... luckily I can see his energy flow.."

Halym fixed his stance and his opponent already launched another attack.

Their fight was lasted for almost thirty minutes.

Halym could react and counter Wen's attack. He definitely had some significant progress since he started this sparring.

"-fuuh- somehow my stamina is getting better.."

"well... Ar's body should able do two hours non-stop sparring tho" Wen sighed

"I'll try my best to improve it sir Wen" Halym replied

"what do you think Arva? can Halym win?" Abhin asked

"hm, he's only improved his defend and reflexes. He need the initiative to attack or see the opportunity to do that"

"yeah, still really hard for me to know when the timing.."

"so what's your suggestion for that Ar?"

"hm, i know several patterns of her attacks. Let's learn to counter it in the rest of our time before the match"

"sounds good" Abhin nodded

"let's try it then!" Halym agreed

"Kerly, please come here"

"ok Ar"

Arva whispered something to him. Wen nodded and back to his position.

"are you ready Halym?"

"yes"

Both of them took their stance. Halym made sure that he was ready to take whatever Wen would throw at him.

"here we go" Wen started

He dashed really fast and did a jumping front kick. Halym could feel the air pressure on his face.

-whuuup-

Halym dodged it. He took one step further to the back. Wen continued his front kick attack pattern. Slowly, Halym understood the timing, rhythm, and pace form that kind of attack.

"hm, that's enough"

Wen stopped his attack.

"how's that Ar?"

"hm, it's enough to simulate her standard attack"

"...err so what's the purpose of this training?"

"it's to make you used to her standard attack pattern. Hm, you should realize by now"

"what.... ah! when I watched her match video, I saw she mostly used stab and sharp straight attack with her gear!"

"hm, that's right. I will tell you all of her pattern attack and make you used to it. While doing that, you will also learn how to counter it"

"I see! I'll do my best!"

"but before that.., hm.. Lin, can I borrow your en-light?" Arva looked at Lin.

"hmm? sure Halym. Here"

Lin gave his en-light.

"Thank you. Kerly, use this to make this training more accurate"

He gave it to Wen.

"hmm... I'll try Ar. You know I'm a full melee sub-class so I won't use weapon like this really good"

"hm, it's ok Kerly. It would be sufficient"

"hee, ok then Ar"

"Halym, try to counter Kerly's attack every time you dodge it. Using signature would be really good"

"got it sir Arva"

They started their sparring again.

Wen used his 100% speed and ready to attack his opponent.

Halym also took his stance with fully activated crown and third eye energy source.

-whup-

A very fast stab attack came in front of him. Halym dodged it and did his stance to use his signature. Yet another stab was coming and he forced to dodge again.

"whooa, sir Wen is really fast with his attack.. totally has a different pressure from his only kick attack"

Ten minutes into the sparring, Halym couldn't counter any of Wen's attack.

He was really surprised to find out that Wen was really fast with his weapon (Lin's en-light).

"hm, this won't stop until you can counter Kerly's attack Halym" Arva shouted

"I....m... trying -kkgghh-"

He used all of his focus to dodge Wen's attack.

"focus Halym! Ar's body should not have any difficulties with this kind of attack!"

"got..it"

Halym tried to think what's going on here. Why couldn't he counter Wen? what's the difference with previous sparring?.

"just... what's made this difference than before.."

Halym took twice the distance from his usual dodging but he realized he couldn't counter his opponent that way.

"I can't take it too far.."

He kept observing Wen's energy flow and output. He also tried to see his attack patterns.

"his speed remains the same... his pattern... ah! his timing and tempo! it's totally different with the kick attack! why do I only realize it now?!"

Because legs were longer than arms, it's only natural that arms were faster than legs.

They had a shorter range, but they were faster.

Halym used Wen's timing and tempo from the previous sparring, that's why he couldn't read Wen's movements correctly.

"I must redo my observation.."

-whuuss-

A stab aimed to his head. He dodged it and got something that he needed.

"ok..so I need to be in the right position..and immediately counter it when i evade the attack..."

-buugh-

Halym punch reached his opponent. Wen was surprised and didn't see that's coming. But Halym didn't stop there, he already prepared for another punch.

Wen didn't block it, instead he also launched another attack.

Halym felt confused at the moment and he decided to block it.

-buugh-

Wen changed his attack with a spin kick. Halym pushed back with showing a suprise expression.

"ah sorry. I only supposed use stab attack"

Wen scratched his head.

"hm, turn out Halym still has a hard time to take a decision in a battle"

"you're right Ar. Oi Haylm! why are you stopping your attack just now?"

"i..i don't know. I chose to prioritize my defense first"

"-sigh- in a moment like that, just push your attack. If you pick defend, you're gonna give your opponent a chance to change the tide of the battle"

"i see"

"i've got an idea. Hm, Halym come here"

Arva whispered something to Halym.

"wait sir Arva....errr dodge and..."

"hm, look like we need a little time for this.. let's discuss over there"

They went to the corner while Abhin, Lin, and Wen only looked at them.

Arva explained something to Halym, and he nodded along with Arva's explanation.

"hey kid....hmmm Lin? don't you want to play again?"

"no! watched them fighting is really fun"

Lin was laughing.

"is that so? then let's watch them"

Abhin patted Lin's head.

"that's so simple! thank you for the explanation sir Arva! let's try it!"

Halym felt excited.

"seems like Ar found a new solution"

They moved from the corner and gathered with Wen again.

Halym took his stance and showed a confident expression.

"hoo, let's we try again"

Wen also took his stance.

Both of them were ready to start their sparring. After a few seconds, Wen started it with a fast front stab at his opponet.

"tanna filling" Arva shouted

"huh?"

Wen wondered what's that mean.

Halym dashed towards his direction and when his stab attack almost hit him, he dodged it.

While dodged, he already prepared to launch his signature.

Wen immediately changed his arm position into elbow attack, but Halym didn't stop his attack.

<LOTUS MARK>

-buugh-

Wen got pushed for one meter.

He couldn't regain his position while Arva shouted another phrase.

"fruit filling"

Halym dashed as fast as he could. Wen also reacted by side stepping to the left, but Halym predicted that.

He bent all of his fingers and...

<TWO LOTUS MARK>

-dhaar-

Wen was too late to block that. He flew for around two meters before he finally fell to the ground.

"whooa, it's work"

Halym didn't expect that.

Wen looked at the sky and stayed lying on the ground for a while.

"I know it's Ar's body... but to think i can't react just know.."

"sir Wen? are you okay?"

Wen stood up and tapped his clothes.

"I'm okay Halym. That's really great move that you did just now"

"thank you! sir Arva gave me this solution"

"hm, you did it really well"

"Ar, I'm really want to fight using my style here..."

"that would be pointless Kerly"

"-sigh- you're right.. ok then"

Wen looked pissed off.

He was a brawler full melee fighter. Using weapon made his full power became impossible to use. But Arva was right, they needed attack pattern that was really similar with Khana Vishuddha.

They started the sparring again. Wen dashed towards his opponent again.

"fruit filling"

"that's again.... what's actually..."

Wen's focus was splitted for a second, and Halym already went into his direction with his signature ready.

"-kkgghh-"

Wen switched to defend.

<TWO LOTUS MARK>

-buugh-

He was pushed by the impact of the Halym's signature.

"I can't take this lightly from now...."

His eyes showed a serious determination.

Wen attacked his opponent with all of his got. But every time Arva gave this weird code or something, Halym could counter or even made an initiative to attack him.

Another ten minutes passed, and Halym totally took the flow of the battle.

"hm, that's enough"

This time, both of them started to show an exhausted expression. They're already sparring for almost two hours.

"-fuuh- I'm starting to feel exhausted.."

Halym sat on the ground.

"yeah... fighting with this en-light really made me tired" Wen gave back the en-light to Lin

"I'm sorry Kerly. But you're doing a great job"

"ahaha, is that so?! then it's all worthed it" Wen laughed

"hm, Abhin? what's wrong?"

"!! ah, nothing Arva. I just thought that both of Wen and Halym were really a great fighter..I mean you, your body"

"they're fighting without any gears equipped. That's merely a sparring Abhin"

Arva tilted his head.

"I mean.... -sigh- forget it Arva. It's just my overthinking"

"hm, if you say so"

"whooah Halym! these two uncle are really great at fighting!!"

Lin was excited.

"hm, they're both an S rank fighter Lin" Arva explained

"wooah, like father?! they're fighter too?!"

"hm, that's right"

All of them took a rest while having little conversation.

"so Ar.. what's that weird phrase that you said to Halym?"

"hm, I decided to help him with code so he know when to counter or to defend himself"

"code? so what's that... fruit? tanna?"

"that's my bread filling variants that we sell at the shop"

Halym followed

"I see! so you guys use that as a code. But for what? can't you just say it normally? what he need to do?"

"hm, I made this code for tonight match"

"what?!"

Abhin and Halym got the same reaction.

"fighting Khana with Halym's current state of mind would be really difficult. That's why I will help him during the match"

"what? you know you can't... wait.. so that's why you made it into code"

"hm, that's right Abhin"

"wait a minute! i still don't understand"

Halym looked confused.

"ok. in FATE's match, we are allowed to use SAI to communicate with the other people"

"really?! is it okay to do that?!"

"sure. Because your conversation will be recorderd by the committee of FATE tournament. As long it's not related to the match, you're allowed to call or talk with anyone"

"I see... so that's why sir Arva use code! it won't make them supiscious to us"

"yup, that's right"

"whoaa, I'm feeling a lot better now!"

"hm, we will do that Halym. I will watch from my SAI, and give you instruction when you're lost or don't know what you have to do"

"errr... Arva"

"what's it Abhin?"

"with your current body, you can't enter upper city right?"

"hm, I forgot"

"ahaha, don't worry Ar! I'll watch the match. We can link our SAI and you would able to watch from my SAI"

"ah, that's right!" Abhin nodded

"hm, thank you Kerly"

"no worries Ar~. Anything for my friend" Wen smiled

"it's already 4:00 PM. We better go back for prepared" Abhin gave his suggestion.

"that's right! I need to prepare and take a rest to give my best performance"

"hm, that's a good suggestion"

They stood and ready to left Ara's house.

Arva said his good bye to Lin and promised would come again tomorrow.

"so, I will take my leave first. Need to get Halym back as soon as possible"

Abhin started his EBW's engine.

They splitted at the junction and went to the different direction. Wen brought Arva back to his home.

"ok, here were are"

"hm, I'll wait your call Kerly"

"roger that"

Wen started his EBW's engine and ready to go. But he stopped for a while and talked to Arva.

"hey Ar...."

"hm, what's wrong?"

"if... you're never back to your body.....will this country lose its strongest fighter?"

"hm, Halym can do that. Why you're worried Kerly?"

"no he can't... you don't understand Ar.. your mind and your body is the perfect match to each other... that's why you're the strongest"

"hm, I can't agree with that"

"what do you mean?"

"in the battle, it's not about energy capacity or gears. It's all about how you read the situation and make a right decision. You should know that too Kerly as an S rank fighter"

"I know! but....with your body now.. Halym's body, you'll never win against anyone in the S rank!"

"it is my dream....to beat you someday.... and every match and sparring that we have, it's always super fun!"

"hm, so you need me to become your rival?"

"....."

"don't worry Kerly. I'll solve this problem. Even with this body, I'll always do my best"

Arva gave his straight expression.

"then....come.."

"hm? what do you mean?"

"come to the upper city, as a fighter. I'll wait you Ar"

"hm, I don't know if mother will allow that"

"come on Ar!! really?!"

"but if mother give her permission then..hm, I'll do it"

"-sigh- that's not really convincing.. but I'll take that for now"

Wen sped up his EBW and left the place.

Arva came into his house and headed to the bathroom. He would wait till the match between Halym and Khana begun.

At 7:00 PM in the main arena of FATE association.

----- ( chapter 11 "preparation" )-----