Blue Snow - Mystical Numb Master - Sacrificing Willpower - Love and Anger - Fall - Loss

Yuze was frozen in space before she passed the ledge and Philip frozen in space as he was falling in the chasm. Cedric was also frozen time with his body deteriorating on the side

Lyre was frozen in time as she was screaming for Chihaya and Sonar looking down in dejection, Nana was frozen in time and helplessly looked at Chihaya with weak limbs, Alex frozen in time as he struggled to stand up as he looked at Chihaya with sweaty forehead, Von frozen in time as he held Chihaya's head in his right grip, and Chihaya frozen in time as her fingers embedded on Von's arm with her eyes piercing in between Von's fingers as the skin of her face started to rip apart into flakes and her hair dissipated into dust since Von used Disentanglement on her before time was stopped

Of course the skin flakes and the hair dust are also frozen in time

The disciples of the Night of Waning Gibbous are also frozen in place while Black Star Diopside is also frozen in time on the giant tree trunk while climbing it

~~~

Before everyone was frozen in time, at the entrance of the Core Academy where the Door of Recognition was supposed to be

The rain is intensely pouring down at the frozen box of Time Crystals that contained Yozu

Aoyuki walked through the large hallway from the Grand Hall towards the door frame of the Door of Recognition

"The rain is not letting up! How could it rain this so much in China? There's constant lightning and thunder." Aoyuki muttered as he looked at the ground, "There's even ice chunks mixed with the rain, hailstorm?"

He stood a few meters away from the door frame as drizzle and water splashes almost reached him. The intense winds swept around him as his clothes fluttered and his hair swayed

The two blue small horns on his head, under his hair, was shown

He slowly walked forward and entered the torrential weather

"Ah!" Aoyuki exclaimed as he was showered by the rain like a giant waterfall. The winds almost made him lose his balance and he could feel sharp pains around his body from the hailstorm

Nonethless, he still advanced forward. His goal is Yozu, he could feel his energy in from of him. He was curious as to why Yozu wasn't moving

To his answer, he bumped on a hard object. He touched the object and the object felt smooth to the touch. It was like he was touching nothing but there was definitely an object or wall in front of him

He placed his face against the wall and placed his hands above his forehead to act like a cover so that the rain couldn't block his vision

That is how intense the rain is, he couldn't see one feet in front of him

As he looked at the wall, he was confused why he did that. He didn't know if the wall will be transparent or solid yet he placed his face against it

To his surprise, the wall was transparent and he could see through it

He saw Yozu standing inside the wall, that looked like a cube, with his arms crossed. Stationary or frozen rain was scattered around him. He seemed to be frozen in place or time

"Is he trapped?! How did this happen?!" Aoyuki exclaimed as he couldn't believe that thr Headmaster was trapped

"What is this material?" Aoyuki knocked at the wall and no sound was generated

At this moment, Aoyuki's eyes dilated as he felt something deep inside him

"Akayuki?" Aoyuki felt that Akayuki's consciousness was lost. It was most likely she was defeated by the enemy

"But that's impossible!!" Aoyuki couldn't believe that Akayuki lost. Akayuki had the most firepower among the Guardians and her arsenal are the best of the best and deadly, especially Muramasame

Even Aoyuki, Akayuki's big brother, wouldn't be able to defeat Akayuki with his full power. Unless he is able to get a hold of Akayuki's weakness, a cherry blossom petal that Akayuki leaves whenever she teleports

Aoyuki was worried, if Akayuki was defeated, only Yozu could handle the enemy yet he was trapped here

"Only one thing to do!" Aoyuki said as he began to power up and exert a compact and controlled energy. The intense rain that is pouring on him stopped a few inches from his body like there was a shell around himself to protect him from the rain

"Ao Oni!" (Blue-Horned Demon)

Aoyuki's blue horns grew longer and glowed. A third horn also grew from the middle of his forehead and glowed. His vertical slit eyes becamr yellow and green as the circular pupil behind his slit eyes are glowing blue. Black horns grew from his elbows and knees and his muscles contracted and became harder

Immense energy radiated from his body that pushed the heavy and intense rain away around him

He placed his right hand against the transparent cube and closed his eyes

Energy swirled around his body and collected around his chest. The condensed energy flowed towards his right hand

"Blue Snow"

He opened his eyes and palmed the transparent cube and released a powerful energetic force towards the transparent cube. The rain behind the cube was blown away for a second

Then, the wall remain unscathed and nothing changed. Blue Snow was Aoyuki's most powerful ability and the transparent cube was unaffected

"I can't give up now!" Aoyuki strengthened himself and prepared himself to launch a flurry of blows to the cube until it is destroyed or at least cracked

"No need to do that, young man..." An old voice stopped Aoyuki through the rain. Despite the loud splattering of the intense rain on the ground, Aoyuki heard the voice, he also couldn't see passed the curtain of rain

"Who-?" Before Aoyuki could speak, the old voice interrupted him

"C'mon Yozu, the Divine Star is about to be stolen." An Old Man passed Aoyuki in his bubble where his energy pushed the rain away

Aoyuki was stunned and shivered upon seeing the old man in the corner of his eye. He abruptly turned his head to look at the Old Man but the Old Man disappeared immediately

Then suddenly, the intense rain slowed down to a stop. Aoyuki also stopped moving in place

"What are you doing here, Old Man?" A voice came from the transparent cube. It was Yozu, who began to move freely through the solid cube

He popped out of the cube and walked out like nothing happened. Although, he was glowing with a bright yellow light that is almost blinding

"I will be meeting the new one." The Old Man said as he walked through the door frame. He passed through the numerous stationary raindrops. The Old Man was moving freely even with time stopped

The Old Man had an appearance of an extremely weak old man. He has long white hair that reached towards his tailbone and bangs that covered half of his face

He also has long white beard and moustache that covered the wrinkles on his cheeks

He wears a white long sleeved polo shirt and white pants with white rubber shoes. His back is hunched a little bit with both of his hands on his back

"This early?" Yozu asked

"Things didn't go according to plan. Apparently, the flow of events has been altered and I'm going to check it out myself"

"What do you mean?"

"You didn't know?"

"Know what?"

"I see, then you shouldn't"

"What?"

"Nothing, you should tend to the Divine Star. It's about to get stolen and I have to work hard if it did." The Old Man said as he disappeared from Yozu's eyes

"Damn Old Man." Yozu muttered as he also disappeared from the area, leaving the frozen Aoyuki and stationary rain

~~~

"Hm, who the heck is this?!"

Yozu exclaimed after he appeared next to the Divine Star. He could see a tall humanoid black gemstone that is climbing from the trunk and reaching towards the Divine Star

He then looked around and saw several more humanoid gemstones with robes surrounding the giant tree

"Who are these people?!"

Then, in an instant, all of the humanoid gemstones with robes had cracks appearing around the entirety of their bodies making them shatter into pieces the moment time has resumed its flow

"Hm, interesting..."

Yozu was surprised the moment he confronted the tall humanoid black gemstone. He couldn't move it at all, no matter how he pushed it. It doesn't even take damage from his casual attacks

He then noticed the white streaks across the chest and torso of this gemstone. He became serious and stabbed its chest with his right arm

His arm cleanly stabbed through its chest and cracks appeared around the hole. He then disappeared once more and appeared back from where he was, this time, the tall humanoid black gemstone was not on his arm

"That has taken care of... Now, are the students safe?" Yozu muttered as he disappeared and appeared at the Spirit Mine

He saw the unconscious students and a broken Yashida. He also saw a weakened Nana, injured Alex, and helpless Lyre. He also saw an unconscious unfamiliar girl at the entrance of the Spirit Mines

Then, he saw an unfamiliar man holding Chihaya's head. He looked closer and saw Chihaya's existence being disentangled into subatomic particles

"Oh no!" Yozu gasped as he knew what this entails

He knew he was too late and this kind of ability conditional. Once the ability is applied to a body, the body will undergo the full process of the ability until it ended

Even though time has stopped, he couldn't do anything to save Chihaya. He cursed inside his heart and sliced the man's arm off

He grabbed the sliced off hand and remove it from Chihaya's face. He could see the unwavering willpower from Chihaya's eyes. She did not give up and kept fighting, all just to save the students behind her

It was a sacrifice she was willing to make

"I'm sorry"

Yozu muttered with sadness on his eyes. He then kissed Chihaya's forehead and pulled the severed arm away from Chihaya's clawing hands that were bleeding

He pulled the man away from the vicinity into a place where no one can see them

"I may be the Mystical Numb Master... I may be numb to pain, numb to hunger, numb to feeling, and numb to the flow of time... But I'll never be numb when it comes to Chi!"

Yozu's face became distorted with anger. At this point, his numbness disappeared as a sharp pain stabbed his heart for a second time in his life

Time started flow again and color came back to the world

Yozu threw the man on the ground with force. The man was surprised and shocked as he was suddenly smacked on the ground. He also felt additional pain from his arm

The man looked at his arm only to see his hand missing

Before the man could react, his head was already held by Yozu, like how the man held Chihaya's head

"You won't die a quick death... I will let you suffer first before you die!"

The area around them began to darken and darken until it was pitch black

The only sound that could be heard was the screaming of a man calling for help or a cry to end his torture and suffering

~~~

As time resumed its flow, all of the disciples of the Night of the Waning Gibbous shattered all at once, leaving a colored dust and particles at the ground next to the giant tree

Black Star Diopside, however, became a compressed black rock that fell on the ocean floor at the Mariana Trench

The Divine Star that is floating in the hole of the giant tree trunk remained untouched

The Night of the Waning Gibbous has been eradicated in one night

~~~

In front of the Spirit Mine, Lyre, Alex, and Nana was surprised after Von disappeared in a blink of an eye while leaving a severed hand

Chihaya fell on her back on the ground. Her skin started to disintegrate into dust as it began to peel off like flakes. The exposed muscles threatened to pop and bleed but the blood also got disentangled and dissipated in the air

Lyre and Nana were horrified at this scene but Lyre ran closer to the dying Chihaya

"Chihaya-sensei! Chihaya-sensei!" Lyre cried out

Chihaya heard Lyre's call and moved her eyes to look above her. Lyre appeared on her vision upside down

Chihaya started to lose her vision as her retinas started to disintegrate. Her lips also cracked as the water in her body evaporated

Chihaya's body quickly became thin, yet, Chihaya pushed herself to speak and what's left of her body began to glow

"Y-you... did... well..."

Chihaya tried to reach at Lyre at pat her head to soothe her crying, only for the entirety of her hand to dissipate into dust and flakes

"Chihaya-sensei!! What should I do?!"

Lyre cried out as tears bursted from her eyes. Her tears fell on Chihaya's cheeks and dripped around her head. Sonar had her eyes closed with a sad expression as she knew that Chihaya cannot be saved

Lyre held onto a shred of hope the moment she saw her tears land on Chihaya's cheeks. It was like in the movies where the heroine cried for the dying hero, only for the tears to have a healing ability and saved the hero. It may also be like hers, considering her ability is the Songstress, the Embodiment of Music

Music heals the soul, right?

But nothing has a happy ending. This is not a kid's story or a cliché storyline of saving the heroine

Chihaya's entire body dissipated into the air as she closed her eyes. The dust particles disappeared on thin air. Nothing was left of Chihaya

Lyre stared at her hands, from where the Chihaya's dust should have been but disappeared into subatomic particles

Lyre was shocked beyond compare as tears continuously flowed from her eyes

She doesn't know why she even shed this much tears to this person. Who is she to her? Why does she care so much for her? She's just a homeroom teacher, they didn't even interacted very much yet she cried for this person? Why?

Lyre didn't care anymore, she was overwhelmed with emotions. This was the first time she witnessed death in front of her. There was even no body left behind, the body disappeared into nothingness. Lyre was on a crisis

Then, Lyre's face crumpled from sadness and anger until she flicked her head back and screamed at the sky

The scream had no sound, no, her scream muffled all of the sound in the large area around her, even her voice

As she screamed at the sky, Sonar released her hand on Lyre's shoulder and her eyes glowed and flashed as she hovered a few meters above Lyre like an ascending God

Alex and Nana watched the event unfold as they couldn't hear a thing around them. Nana has already tended to Alex, who was still on the ground. They could do nothing but to watch

Energy bursted from Lyre as Sonar's projection glowed brighter. Sonar started to grow two pairs of pointed wings from her back. It was the same for Lyre

At this point, an explosion of compressed energy occured around the area and made a massive vapor dome

This was due to Lyre's newfound ability that came from Sonar that she unlocked after experiencing a life changing event or an overpowering emotion. It was the ability of Sonic Reverb

The explosion brightened the area and caused a vibration throughout the land. The vapor dome slowly expanded and the intense wind swept the trees along with the giant tree

Nana hugged Alex on his head and tried to protect him while Alex lifted his left arm and held Nana's head to protect her

Sonar had her right hand raised and pointed towards the direction where Lyre was screaming

It was a scene that was mesmerizing and deep as time seemed to slow down and no sounds could be heard. Just a deafening but soothing silence

~~~

At the chasm, deep inside the Spirit Mines, Philip fell through the chasm

Yuze chased Philip and followed him as she was about to enter the chasm. She planned to use her Shift ability to catch up to Philip and shift his body back to her

Yuze jumped towards the chasm only to return back the moment she passed the ledge

"Aaaaaggghhh!"

Yuze grunted as the overbearing wave of pressure swept throughout her body. She unconsciously raised her arms to block the wave but to no avail

She jumped back on the ground before the ledge and her body was violently shaking due to the wave of pressure

"What is this amount of Mana?!!" Yuze shouted as she became annoyed at the wave of pressure. If even her couldn't handle the wave of pressure at her full transformation and full power

She then looked behind her and saw the conscious Cedric with his body crumbling into pieces. She became angry at him and this mighy cause the death of Philip if he wasn't savr immediately

"AAAAAHHH!!" Yuze screamed in anger and she reached her hand at Cedric and crumpled the air on her hand. She then twisted her hand and lifted it above her head and cleched her fist

Cedric's body crumpled into a single point of mass as blood spurted out from it. Though, even his blood did not escape Yuze's anger and it swirled around the ball of flesh and bones and condensed

She clenched her hand harder until blood dripped from her palm. The ball of Cedric compressed even further until it turned into an atom

Yuze killed Cedric with her own hands, or hand

Tears flowed from Yuze's eyes, not because he killed a person or she was scared at what will happen if Cedric's family discovered that he died or was killed, but thoughts flowed into her mind that Philip might have died since a wave of pressure is affecting the falling Philip at the moment

At this point, Yuze's arms formed yellow gauntlets and claws that erupts yellow lightning and greaves that yellow light crackled around her legs

The tips of her short hair became redder until it faded to yellow up. The tips of her cat ears hair also turned red

A yellow lightning tail also manifested on her tailbone but it was a strand of lightning that crackles and conducts on the ground

She underwent another transformation from her being subjected to the wave of pressure, as she deemed it as a kind of Mana

Her body is overloaded by Mana

She immediately jumped once more in a red and yellow blur and dashed down the chasm. The intense wave of pressure immediately swept her yet she forced herself and resisted the pressure as she shifted through

She couldn't see clearly in the pitch black chasm and could only see small blue particles that went by her vision as she dove down in terminal velocity

As time goes by, Yuze's consciousness was dwindling and she felt that her body was compressing and under intense pressure yet her ability and transformation was powering up by the second and the Mana inside her body was running rampant

The only thing that can be seen in the pitch black chasm is a small glowing yellow orb with a tint of red

Several seconds later, Yuze was still going down the chasm at terminal velocity. Tears began to form on her eyes once more and it flowed through the back of her head as the wave of pressure swept her tears

Tears formed because she was starting to lose hope at reaching Philip since she can't catch up even with her shifting herself through the chasm

A few moments later, Yuze immediately lost her breath and she subconsciously held her neck as she tried to catch for air. The air that she inhaled was thorny and felt it will rip her neck

With her consciousness dwindling, she couldn't think fast enough and shift herself back up. Instead, she lost control of her ability and free fell through the dark chasm without breath and a stinging pain on her neck

She immediately closed her eyes but she was still slightly conscious

"Philip, no!" Yuze muttered in a dried and raspy voice. She doesn't want to give up on saving Philip. He was her first love and she wanted to be with him

Then, a thought passed her mind. If Philip died, it will also be alright if she died and follow Philip to the other world

So, she released her hands from her neck and let herself free fall through the chasm as her consciousness was about to disappear

Until she felt two hands from the behind of her knees and her back. She also felt that she was moving upwards until she suddenly sped up

~~~

"You're too reckless..." Yozu said to Yuze, who was on her arms, as she saved Yuze and carried her out of the chasm

His expression was extremely neutral and it was devoid of emotions

With the death of Chihaya and him torturing and mutilating the man that killed her, his ability became more powerful as he was glowing more radiant

Yozu hovered back to the ledge and gently dropped the unconscious Yuze on the ground

Yozu looked at Yuze's sleeping face and tried to understand the situation that Yuze put herself into

Why would Yuze jump down the dangerous and hazardous pitch black chasm? What is her goal?

Of course the answer was obvious

Philip somehow fell on the chasm and Yuze tried to save him

Therefore, Yozu immediately turned around and jumped down the chasm and tried to catch up to Philip. He hurried down and disappeared in a flash as he figured that Philip fell a few minutes ago, who knows if he landed and died or is still falling

After Yozu disappeared, Yuze abruptly opened her eyes and inhaled sharply for fresh air. Her back arched as the pain went away

She immediately raise her body and peered on the ledge. She could bear the wave of pressure now after being on it for several seconds

She saw a streak of gold light pass through the pitch black chasm

"Please..." Yuze made another cry as tears formed on the corner of her eyes, she still had hope

~~~

Yozu dashed through and fell through the chasm in an insane speed, to the point that the small blue particles were passing through him like streaks of light

"What does the Old Man want with him?" Yozu thought to himself as he was eager to save Philip to himself

"What don't I need to know?" Yozu racked his brain and tried to understand Philip deeper

"If you really need him, you should save him yourself, Old Man." Yozu muttered with furrowed eyebrows

Several seconds later, the pitch black chasm began to illuminate. The chasm illuminated with a bright blue color

The blue light came from the crystals and stones that were embedded on the walls of the chasm. These blue crystals and stones encompasses an extremely large area of the chasm that it is almost impossible to see the other side of the wall since there are no solid masses in the middle of the chasm

Yozu was unfazed by this sight since he already came here once before, when the the first ever Mana Hotspots appeared and this particular chasm is the most powerful Mana Hotspot in the world

This is also the reason why the Mystical Academy was built on top of the China Mana Hotspots

Yozu was worried and wary that Philip fell deeper in the chasm and Yozu himself haven't went deeper in the chasm due to the massive pressure of Mana that is contained at the deeper places of the chasm

He then shrugged his shoulders and went deeper down the chasm

Several minutes later, he couldn't catch up with the falling Philip, but the color of the crystals and stones changed

The crystals and stones were violet in color

Yozu was curious as to what these crystals and stones are but saving Philip is more important so he ignored the crystals and gems

He boosted faster down the chasm

Several more minutes later, the color of the crystals and stones changed once again

The crystals and stones became green in color

As soon as Yozu entered this area, the Mana around him became even more concentrated, violent, and more powerful. The power of the Mana present is the same level as Yozu is exerting currently

"Is Philip dead?! Surely he won't survive the potency of this Mana if he passed through here!" Yozu exclaimed as he exerted more Mana around him to counter the turbulent Mana

Then, five seconds later, the crystals and stones becane orange in color

Yozu abruptly stopped in his tracks and he subconsciously raised his arms to cover his chest

Mana became more vicious and attacked his body directly which caused his ability to be lost in turmoil and become violent

He was extremely numb a few seconds ago but this sharp pain fell unto him like a meteor

He subconsciously flew back up to avoid the area and the Mana became a little less violent

He looked down at the deep chasm and tried to measure the depth once again. If even him with at full power and maximum numbness couldn't handle the turbulent Mana in this area, then surely Philip won't survive if he fell deeper

Yozu had a sad look on his face and he is weighing something on his mind

In the end, he decided to not go down further and return without Philip

"I'm sorry Philip, I'm sorry Yuze..."

Yozu abandoned Philip and flew back up to the surface in a flash. He did this because a part of him thinks that Philip had died, the other thinks that the Old Man has already saved him, and another one is that Philip was not here in the first place

He just needs to think of something to do to soothe Yuze once he come back without Philip

~~~

As soon as he came back to the ledge, he hovered from the chasm like an ascending deity and landed on the ledge

Yuze saw Yozu and looked at him with tears on her eyes and cheeks as she is sitting on the ground. She noticed that Philip's body was nowhere to be found around Yozu

They stared at each other without saying anything like they are telepathically talking to each other

Yozu furrowed his eyebrows and spoke

"I'm sorry Yuze..."

As soon as Yuze heard Yozu's words, tears swelled up in his eyes and she tried to hold it back

Eventually, the tears bursted and she wailed. It was like she lost an important person, and she lost her first love

Yozu approached her and kneeled down to hug her. He patted her head and tried to soothe her

Yuze hugged him back as she cried

Yellow lightning crawled from the ground and into Yozu. The lightning electrocuted Yozu's skin but he couldn't feel the sting

~~~

After Lyre screamed and lowered her head, she fell on her knees. Sonar was hovering above her head while unmoving like she is protecting Lyre

Sonar's eyes were glowing with a serious expression on her face

Lyre abruptly lifted her head and turned around to look at the Spirit Mines with a shocked neutral face

=====

VOLUME 1: Prologue 1: Mystical Academy and Fate Control

END

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