I stood in my Gramps' arena.
"We have finally entered the final phase of your preparation towards unlocking Kolmnid's Seal. Now I will impart to you the basics of elemental control. What I am about to explain now, you will understand after unlocking the Fourth and Sixth Seals" my Gramps said.
I nodded and paid close attention.
"All power comes from the heart and can be channeled through emotion. To utilize an element, you need to understand its nature and how that nature relates to a particular human emotion. How well or poorly a person can utilize a particular element is tied to how strongly or weakly they experience certain emotions. Having said this, anger is the emotion that generates one of the strongest outbursts of power however…even in the world of Kolmnid, it was classified as a forbidden emotion when it comes to the utilization of elemental techniques. Do you understand why?" my Gramps asked.
"Anger is difficult to suppress and control. A technique generated through anger runs the risk of instability. It possesses the capacity to destroy not only adversaries but allies as well…and eventually…the user of the technique itself" I said seriously.
My Gramps stared at me in surprise.
"Interesting…" he said with a smile.
"What is?" I asked.
"You said exactly the same thing…he did" my Gramps said.
"Who did?" I asked.
"The hero from the world of Kolmnid whose 'Tale' you're now trying to unlock" my Gramps said.
"How do you even know that?" I asked in shock, then I remembered something from the Tale my Dad told us about his history.
When Chaos altered the timelines back when my Dad was still young, my Gramps was unaffected by the change in timelines.
"I see…you're not exactly within the flow of time are you Gramps?" I asked.
He smirked.
"That's an interesting thing to say. However this is one of the 'that's for me to know and you to find out' cases" my Gramps said.
I sighed.
"You're pretty strange Gramps. Regardless of how strong I get, I still come no closer to seeing your face" I said.
My Gramps laughed.
"Now that's an interesting goal" he said. "Anyway, you've acquired the required amount of mental fortitude needed to unlock the Seal Of Kolmnid. I'll repeat once more that the Seal Of Kolmnid has 'Balance' as its theme. It's one of the reasons I had you confront your reflection" my Gramps said seriously.
"Why is that?" I asked.
"Do you recall what I told you about your cape earlier?" my Gramps asked.
"But what's with this transformation? My armour is made out of Water, my cape out of Fire, the golden insignia of the Lion out of Light and my face is cloaked in Shadow. I'm like some Dream Being version of Jekyll and Hyde!" I recalled my reaction after my cape transformed.
"In a sense, your transformation connotes the requirements needed to unlock the next limiter. That requirement is Balance which can only be achieved by one with a deep understanding of their identity and a strong will. The fact that you can sustain your transformation connotes that you are a balanced person with a strong will. Otherwise, your cape would have boiled and evaporated your armour or your armour would have quenched your cape" I recalled my Gramps' explanation.
"SCARY!" I recalled my concern after hearing this.
"It's precisely why you needed adequate preparation to release the Seal. And this is just the most basic level of strain you'll endure which is precisely why we spent so much time on ensuring that you built for yourself a strong foundation" my Gramps explained.
"You think I'm ready?" I asked.
"Like I said, that was the reason I had you confront your reflection. If your heart was unprepared, you would have been overwhelmed by your reflection" my Gramps explained. "And fortunately enough, that trial was the most difficult of all the preparatory measures you've had to overcome so far. At the very least I can see you're strong enough to wield elements that possess seemingly contrasting natures" my Gramps said.
I sighed.
"To unlock the Seal Of Kolmnid, these are the words you must utter. I utilize slightly different words but the core of the message is the same;
An Unending Wind with Words unspoken,
Indestructible, something from my past appears to be,
Memories I know cannot define things,
Though I am simple, it's hard to seek me out.
A Star, A Tempest, An Enormous Vessel,
Faster yes, than the Rays Of Light,
A Black Hole arises, my fears fly,
To the inanimate Stars shedding unending tears
Bended, Ended, Reaped, then Returned,
They that were handed the Staff Of Silence Hidden,
On the Day Of Resurrection, On the bed called the Grave,
To find them all, my memories died
The Immigrant prevails and I seek His Face,
Though I cannot find meaning to this strange Spirit,
Formerly I was lost, yes astray but I'm here,
And the Stars guard His Tears Eternally"
I sang with my Gramps. Within my mind, I saw the image of what looked like a Sacred Ground divided into Light and Shadow. Within the part that represented Light was a bit of Shadow and within the part that represented Shadow was a bit of Light. Each half of the Sacred Ground was divided into portions and each portion was occupied by a particular element. The Elements Of Generation my Gramps told me about earlier were settled in the Lightside of the Sacred Ground. The Elements Of Destruction were settled in the Darkside of the Sacred Ground. Where the Light had a bit of Shadow and the Shadow, a bit of Light, there was a circular ground in each division made out of Crystal.
"That must be the Element Of Time…" I realized. "…or at the very least, it parallels the Element Of Time on our homeworld…" I thought.
I opened my eyes.
"How do you feel?" my Gramps asked.
"On a physical level, not so different. However…I was bombarded with that conceptual flood I experienced when I first unlocked the Seal Of Endregen" I admitted.
"At the very least, you understand how to utilize each element now…however note this Junior, there's a reason this Seal is called the Basic Elemental Seal" my Gramps said.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"There's more to elemental control…than the power to simply move elements about" my Gramps said and walked out of the arena.
"By the way Gramps, what was that song? The words used to unlock Kolmnid's Seal?" I asked.
My Gramps paused at the door leading out of the arena and without turning to face me, he said,
"It's an ancient song from the World Of Kolmnid. It's entitled 'Glory Of The Long Suffering God'" my Gramps said as he walked out of the arena.
It had been almost two months since I last spoke to Ciella and the others back in the Real World. In the Real World, Ciella had commenced her image training. Whenever she had free time on her hands, both in the Old Library at school or at home, she'd watch the sparring sessions and martial arts movies Arlene had recorded and stored in the mini-representation of Christopher currently in her (Ciella's) possession. Arlene had handed mini-representations to all the Dream Knights in the school club as well so Ciella could ask for tips whenever there was something she didn't understand.
When they met in the Old Library on the last day of the second month since Ciella's training began, the others began to notice a slight look of concern on Concordia's face.
"Anything bothering you Concordia?" Keiran asked.
"Keiran, meet me here tonight. There's something I want to discuss with you" Concordia said.
Keiran's eyes widened in surprise.
"What are you saying?" Keiran muttered with his eyes wide open in shock.
Concordia guessed Keiran's thoughts and blushed. She punched him.
"It's nothing like that idiot! I'll explain tonight" Concordia said.
That night, as my siblings slept peacefully, Keiran snuck out of bed and headed downstairs. He opened the door leading outside but suddenly heard a call from behind him.
"And where are you going stupid big brother?" Saito asked.
"Just taking a walk" Keiran said.
"It has something to do with Concordia, doesn't it?" Saito asked.
"How the heck do you know?" Keiran asked.
"I saw you talking to her in the Old Library and she made some very un-Concordia-like expressions. I hope you're not up to mischief stupid big brother" Saito glared at me suspiciously.
"Certainly not" Keiran said and left.
Soon, Keiran was at the Old Library in school. The lights were on. Keiran walked in and saw Concordia wearing her blue tailcoat and sunshades. He smirked.
"I suspected as much. You're after a rematch. I didn't expect you to go 'haori' mode though" Keiran said.
"Actually Keiran, I'm not after a rematch" Concordia said.
Keiran approached her.
"After you and San overcame my Kraken Andromeda in Dream Realm Border Wall Defense Mode, I've begun to feel as though I've sort of hit a wall and it would be utterly foolish of me not to attempt to remedy an obvious flaw in my fighting style so I thought you could help me with my training" Concordia said.
Keiran turned and began to leave.
"Sorry but I'm no archer" he said.
"Actually, I was hoping you could help me train…while in 'cat' mode" Concordia said.
Keiran paused and turned to face Concordia. He smirked.
"If we're doing this with me in 'cat' mode, I'll have you know I'm not holding back" Keiran said.
Concordia tossed her briefcase into the air and caught her quiver by slipping her hand into its strap before it could fall, removed an arrow and aimed at Keiran with her bow.
"I wouldn't have it any other way" she said with a very determined stare.
"Keh…" Keiran smirked.