Mitsuki, Arlene and Concordia waited patiently. Ciella, Saito, Keiran and I stepped out of the door.
"You've finally acquired a fiery Bloodline Limit?" Arlene asked.
"Yeah, my Mom taught us the Shin Seiryuu Enjinn no Soten Souryu. Now we can challenge the Field Of Fire" I said seriously.
Suddenly, the door we stepped through to train disappeared and a larger door materialized in its place bearing the same symbols the first door had.
At that moment, my Dad's voice rang.
"You can all enter the Field Of Fire however remember this, for each field, there is an inhospitable atmosphere for those who do not have affinities matching the field. Your goal is to transform the inhospitable atmosphere into one hospitable for all your allies. In each field, you will have to fight while protecting those who have an aversion for the atmosphere in the field. You'll have to be courageous but at the same time kind and precise with all of your strategies to minimize damage to your allies" my Dad said.
"Why don't we leave the ones who have an aversion for the field out of the battle?" Saito asked.
"If you did that, then there'd be no way to tell whether you're succeeding in turning the field hospitable for them or not now will there? Leaving that aside, your enemies will not necessarily be kind enough to choose to attack allies amongst your ranks that match them in affinity. It is usually the case that an adversary would attack the disadvantaged. If you don't want that to happen, then the weakest member of your party must become the scale used to measure the strength of the entire party. That's how you forge a chain without a weak link" my Dad said.
"He's right" Keiran admitted.
We stepped into the Gate. Once at the other side we noticed a field burning with an intense fire. At one side of the field, a Blaze, a Flame and a Fire burnt strongly. At the other side, a Black Inferno raged. At the centre of the field where the Two Major Categories Of Flame met, there was a wall of the mixed elements cutting off either side from progressing. At times, the Brighter Flames (Fire, Flame and Blaze) extended and appeared to have greater territory and at times the Darker Flames (Inferno) would spread and have more territory. I turned around. Keiran had already raised Shields Of Fire around Concordia, Mitsuki and Arlene so that they wouldn't be affected by the hostility of the field.
"You're protecting them with the Fires Of Vitality? Good going Keiran" I congratulated him.
I recalled my Dad's words as he told us about the details concerning his battle against Zanböngfar.
"For the past twenty three years, I've been keeping Zanböngfar's energy neutralized. The side effect of absorbing his energy was that I became extremely sensitive to his schemes and could accurately detect where he was attempting to regenerate himself. By channeling my own energy through his own now trapped in my body, I could weigh down and neutralize most of the hotspots he was attempting to regenerate himself in. True, Zanböngfar was beaten and I can neutralize his energy but man still has free will so ultimately, Zanböngfar's return is not dependent on me but on mankind…" I recalled.
"I see…Dad's been fighting Zanböngfar for twenty three years now. He's been suppressing Zanböngfar's energy every single moment to prevent Zanböngfar from invading Reality" I realized.
"The Flames Of Vitality, Fortitude and Purification on our side of the field must be the terrain Dad's energy dominates. I'm willing to bet that Concordia, Mitsuki and Arlene wouldn't find our side of the field inhospitable" Keiran noted.
We looked at the great wall of flame where the two dominant types of Flame intersected. Through the Flames, we could observe slightly visible images of Wraiths and Giga-Wraiths, the main composition of the Weaver Of Calamity's Army. The Wraiths and Giga-Wraiths never moved past the barrier into my Dad's side of the field however when my Dad's field diminished in size, they charged forward gaining more territory and when my Dad's field expanded in size, they retreated and relinquished their territory.
"I see…these fields seem to connote the current state of Dad's battle against Zanböngfar. When the Wall separating both fields is perfectly halved, Dad and the Weaver Of Calamity are evenly matched. When Dad has a greater portion of the field, the Dream Knights are at an advantage. When Dad loses territory and the Inferno extends, the Weaver Of Calamity is at an advantage and the Dream Knights are at a disadvantage" I explained to my comrades.
"If that's the case why create Seven Fields? One field should be enough to explain the situation?" Saito noted.
"Not necessarily" I said seriously.
"What do you mean San?" Concordia asked.
"Recall our very first battle against the Basilisks before we acquired the Phoenix Tears. They were practically invincible and could not be harmed by normal attacks" I said.
"Yeah, we could only inflict damage if our affinities were superior to theirs" Keiran said.
"Plus we only had an advantage for as long as we possessed 'awareness' of those advantages. The moment that 'awareness' was lost, the Basilisks would reclaim the advantage" Mitsuki added.
"Affinities huh?" Concordia realized.
I nodded.
"The Seven Fields are Seven Affinities corresponding to each of the Seven Stones Of Virtue that symbolize the Seven Elements Of our Homeworld. This field is currently showing us the state of the battlefield for Fire Element Users amongst the Dream Knights. The territories Dad and the Weaver Of Calamity currently possess show us when Dream Knights of a Fire Affinity possess an advantage in battle and when they are at a disadvantage. The entire field…is a Scale!" I realized.
Everyone's eyes widened in realization.