The companions had finally left the caverns and were now in a cabin owned by Master Andrea. It was nighttime and Josec, Harry, Estelle and Buern sat outside staring at the stars.
"It feels like it's been ages since we last saw the sky" Estelle said.
"It has been ages since we last saw the sky" Harry corrected.
"Stop trying to be an irritation Harry" Estelle glared at him.
"Sorry" he instantly apologized.
Josec looked worried and sad. Buern noticed it.
"What's bothering you Josec?" she asked.
"Nothing" Josec sighed.
"Spill! We've been journeying together forever now. You can't hide your feelings from me" Buern said with a glare.
Josec backed away and sighed.
"Fine. Ever since our ship got attacked by Asmodeus on our journey to this continent and Harry got separated from us, I've been worrying that the further we embark on this journey, the more likely we are to be separated. Now the Masters want us to split up and search for Souryu's generals as well" Josec said.
Buern and Harry looked troubled.
"It sort of feels like we're beginning to walk separate paths" Harry admitted.
"So it's been bothering you two as well. I also didn't enjoy worrying about Harry after our separation" Buern admitted.
"You worried about me? Now I'm flattered Vane" Harry teased.
"You guys are pretty close aren't you?" Estelle said with a smile.
"Stop talking like it has nothing to do with you. You're one of us now. We went through the Masters' trials together remember?" Buern said with a smile.
Estelle was surprised by her words at first and then she smiled.
"Besides, something tells me we can't underestimate Souryu's generals. The generals the Masters fought in the past may not be the same in strength as the ones we might soon be facing" Buern said.
"What do you mean?" Estelle asked.
"Our enemies might be growing in strength too. It would be foolish to assume we are the only ones improving" Buern said.
"So your worries aren't entirely baseless Josec. We need all the help we can get if we are to confront them" Harry said.
"We probably need to talk to the Masters about our worries" Estelle said with a sigh.
Meanwhile, Fencer stood a distance away from them staring at the sky. The moon was full and the sky was clear.
"It's about time. While the kids have been training, we the Masters have been extending our joki about the continent. If the Raging Mad Thunderbird is close, we should be able to sense her joki. That damned Innovain, if he wasn't extending his overbearing joki into this continent, this would have been so much easier. Now we have to worry about suppressing his joki so that he doesn't sense the joki of the Raging Mad Thunderbird" Fencer said.
As Fencer watched the sky, he noticed a streak of light rising in the distance and approaching. Fencer looked surprised initially, then his eyes assumed a serious gaze. The light descended before him and transformed into a lady with short glowing silver hair.
"Good evening Thunder. Did Luna send you our way?" Fencer asked.
"Yes, she asked me to deliver a message however I cannot tell you where she is now. Though Souryu's dominion over Avalon has been broken, Innovain's presence is still heavy in the air" the lady called Thunder said.
"I understand. What is her message?" Fencer asked.
"There are rumours of droughts and famines in the continent of Vung. These seem to be caused by unending heatwaves. There is also the rumour of terrible snowstorms in the continent of Storms" Thunder said.
"So she suspects Apollo and Aesakal are at work?" Fencer asked.
Thunder nodded.
"Thank you for the message" Fencer said.
Thunder nodded and transformed into a streak of light. She ascended towards the moon and disappeared.
Fencer returned to the cabin and told the Masters about this development.
The four students on the other hand were finally tired and returned to the cabin to rest. Before Harry fell asleep he said to Josec,
"Don't forget our creed Jo. We rise together…we fall together" he said.
Josec nodded.
"Our ancestors appear to have lived by that creed as well" Josec replied and then fell asleep.
In his dreams, he found himself lying on a grassy plain at night. There were so many stars in the sky and the moon was full and bright white. As Josec stared, he noticed an unusual dark shape move slowly across the moonlight.
"What is that? I guess we're having an eclipse" he laughed.
Then he noticed that the figure covering the moon wasn't circular.
"Wait a sec…is that…a ship?!" Josec exclaimed in shock.
In the next instant, he found himself rising off the ground and towards the ship but as he approached the ship, it appeared to fly even further and further away putting up great distance till Josec found himself staring down at the figure of the earth.
"How far is that thing?" Josec wondered.
The ship began to generate a bright light and Josec had to shield his eyes. When he opened them, he found himself in a farm.
"Hey Josec, so you came" Josec heard a voice call to him.
He looked around and saw no one. In the next instant, a boy leapt down a tree before Josec.
"Over here, the name's Ryu" the boy greeted.
"Do…I know you?" Josec asked.
"You know me in here" the boy said and pointed to his heart.
"Who are you?" Josec asked.
"Hmm, how should I put this so you can relate? Calling you my descendant would be strange since we're not related by blood or anything. I know just the word! I'm your predecessor!" Ryu said.
"Predecessor?" Josec looked confused.
"Yep, predecessor" Ryu nodded.
"In what exactly?" Josec asked.
"In history? Nope, that's not quite the word I'm looking for" Ryu said with a laugh and then his eyes assumed a serious gaze. "In legacy" he said. "I entrust our legacy to you Josec. Keep walking your path and demonstrate to us all the true nature of the phoenix. You don't yet fully comprehend what the phoenix is. It is in its very nature like this ship, the Benedict's Ark. Your history is your strength Josec and you could say, this entire ship filled with your predecessors is your true psychorage" the boy called Ryu said.
"We are all with you on your journey" Ryu promised and as he said this, his hair and eyes turned from blue to gold and his skin slowly became darker in complexion. Lines of identity spread over his face.
"To defeat the generals, you need the power of fused psychorages. Once more I promise you my aid" Ryu said and turned to walk away.
There was a flash in Josec's mind as he saw Ryu sit on a seat that looked like a throne. Around him were a multitude of people that looked like ancient spirits. Ryu rested his head on his fist.
"Onward! Benedict's Ark!" he ordered.
Josec found himself back on the ground resting. The great ship flashed by in great haste and was gone.
It was morning. Josec opened his eyes and yawned tiredly.
"Did I really sleep last night? I still feel so tired" he said.
"I suppose it is an effect of our training in the caverns. Our bodies still need to readjust to regular day and night" Harry said with a yawn.
Josec and Harry freshened up and walked to the cabin hall. There was a delicious scent coming from the kitchen.
"Mm, what's that scent?" Harry said in delight.
A moment after, the girls walked out of the kitchen with Masters Ayumi and Andrea. They carried plates filled with meat, eggs and vegetables. The boys and the men sat down to eat with the ladies.
"All of us ladies cooked this so you'd best enjoy yourselves" Estelle said with a smile.
"Buern can cook?" Harry seemed surprised.
"Is it really that surprising?" Buern asked with a chuckle.
"Heck yeah, I thought all you were good for is fighting!" Harry exclaimed in shock.
"You really know how to make me angry" Buern said with a sinister smile.
Her threatening aura emanated around the cabin. Harry gulped. Fencer walked in a moment later and saw all the food.
"Amazing! I haven't seen anything this good in a while" he said.
"Well, it wasn't exactly easy to find ingredients in the caves. We made do with Ayumi's fruits and veggies" Master Andrea said.
"And Master Pheisl's cooking and that of Master Kyem's students" Buern added.
"According to them, this was cooked by ALL the ladies so you'd best enjoy Fencer" Master Kyem said with a mischievous smile.
"What do you…damn you Kyem! You trying to pick a fight?!" Master Fencer growled angrily.
His eyes flaring threateningly.
They heard giggles from the rest of the Masters except for Emma who apparently remained clueless.
"Whatçha all giggling about?" Emma said as she continued to eat.
"I think Fencer would like a bit of your cooking Colette" Master Kyem said.
Suddenly, Emma's knife cut through her plate and split the table halfway.
"Do you want to die?" she said with a sinister glare which silenced all of the Masters.
Then as if nothing had just happened, she went to the kitchen for a new plate. The table was barely standing.
Josec and the others stared at her in bewilderment.
"Umm, Master Fencer, there's something I'd like to speak to you about" Josec said.
His friends stared at him as they ate.
"What is it Josec?" Master Fencer asked.
"It's a bit silly actually but I don't want us to split up and search for Souryu's generals. If Souryu's generals are that strong then I think we should seek them out together as a single party" Josec said.
"Did your 'Eye Of Heart' tell you anything? Did you have a strange experience or something?" Master Fencer asked.
"I also don't think it's wise for us to split up. Souryu's generals apart from being extremely powerful must also be extremely cunning. I did not have a very good experience confronting Anubis and if it weren't for Francis, Estelle and Gryphon I'd be dead by now. I also owe Jo-lan my thanks" Harry said.
"Jo-lan as in the martial art or the old man?" Josec teased.
"The old man. He's currently posing as the physician of the royal family of Imperium" Harry said.
"ACCKKKK!!!" Buern, Estelle and Josec exclaimed in shock.
"That is indeed surprising but I can't say I'm shocked. Many powerful forces walk this world in the guise of men" Fencer said.
"You don't say" Buern was particularly shocked by this discovery.
"So our physician was actually Jo-lan. Why would he hide this from me? I'm a Jo-lan warrior" Estelle exclaimed in shock.
"What was he doing in Imperium in the first place?" Buern asked.
"My guess is, he was there to guide me. Jo-lan is a force that was unleashed into the world to aid mankind in their confrontation against the Black Dragon so I'm not really surprised that he was in the same location as one of Souryu's generals" Harry said.
"That makes sense" Buern admitted.
"When Asmodeus attacked our ship on our way to Avalon, we were all separated and Harry was placed in great peril" Josec said.
"I actually died" Harry admitted.
"I saw" Buern said.
"You…saw? How?" Harry was surprised.
"Souryu when he threatened me with the curse on Josec showed me your death to break my spirit but during our confrontation, I saw your survival as well" Buern said.
"And now to confront them, we've decided to split up. If the strength of the phoenix is its unity, I doubt Souryu doesn't perceive that the greatest threat to its plans and if the strength of these generals is real, splitting up puts us in real peril" Harry said.
Fencer took a sip of juice from his glass.
"Relax" he said. "It was my original plan to have us split up in search of the generals. After discussing it with the Masters, we decided that it was not the wisest idea so we chose to split up and scout for them instead, then unite to crush them once we had their locations however that all changed last night" Fencer said.
"What do you mean?" Josec asked.
"The Raging Mad Thunderbird sent her psychorage to us with a message. Apparently, there are rumours of droughts and famines in the continent of Vung caused by unending heatwaves. In the continent of storms, there are rumours of terrible snowstorms. This can only be the work of Apollo and Aesakal, Souryu's first and fifth generals respectively" Fencer said.
"You asked me if my 'Eye Of Heart' told me anything. I'm not sure whether this is as an effect of the phoenix's eyes or not but last night I had a strange dream" Josec said.
"Really? What was it about?" Harry asked.
"A ship, sailing across the stars and large enough to cause a lunar eclipse. Within this ship, I met a boy. He said he was my predecessor in legacy" Josec narrated.
"What else did he say?" Fencer asked.
"This is most interesting" Master Pheisl said with a smile.
The Masters seemed very interested in what Josec had to say.
"He also said I was yet to comprehend the true nature of the phoenix and that it was in its very nature like the ship. He called it the Benedict's Ark or something and said that ship filled with all my predecessors was my true psychorage. Another thing he said was that my history is my strength. That's all I think. Next thing I saw, his features changed and he sat on a throne surrounded by what looked like ancient spirits. Then he called to the ship to move onward" Josec narrated.
"The Benedict's Ark. It's been a while since I last heard that name" Master Pheisl said with a faraway look in his eyes.
"You know what it is?" Josec asked.
"Yes I do, it is a place of wonder but at the same time, it is not a place. When you psychorage as the True Succeeding Phoenix, you too will come to know of its true nature" Master Pheisl said with a smile.
"You are so mysterious Master Pheisl. Sometimes I wonder if you're actually human" Estelle said.
"The term 'human' means different things to different people but if what you're asking is whether or not I am a man…I never said I was" Master Pheisl said with a laugh.
"W-W-W-Wait a minute! You're not actually saying you're one of the ancient forces prowling the world in the guise of a man are you?!" Buern exclaimed in shock.
"That's for me to know and you to find out but I will tell you one thing though. I am here to aid you…on Ryu's behalf" Master Pheisl said with a smile and walked away.
"Wait a sec, I never mentioned Ryu's name so how does Master Pheisl…?" Josec wondered.
"Well, Pheisl is indeed mysterious but it's not like he tries to keep secrets on purpose or anything. Some things just can't be put into words. It's no wonder his trial was centred on the 'Eye Of Heart'" Master Fencer said.
TWO DAYS LATER…
The six masters and four students had completed their preparations. The students had been training in the art of the psychorage improv. as well as reviewing their past lessons. Now the time had come to begin confronting Souryu's generals. They stood outside the cabin with their satchels which contained a change of clothes and their books of Jo-lan.
"It's going to be quite a long journey to the city of Imperium. We can catch a ship there to the continent of Vung" Master Fencer said.
"What?! We're confronting Souryu's strongest general right off the bat?!" Estelle exclaimed in worry.
"Isn't that a bit rash Master Fencer?" Buern asked.
"What do you think Andrea?" Fencer asked.
"Fencer is right. Souryu's generals are not only ranked according to how strong they are but also according to how hazardous they are to the survival of the general population on earth. Fortunately for us, they can never agree on one thing and are always at loggerheads with one another but what they don't realize is how they affect one another. Aesakal for instance causes terrible snowstorms wherever he goes. Apollo on the other hand causes heatwaves that kill the fertility of the soil. Without fertility, plants die and the mass death of plants further affects the climate adversely thus amplifying Aesakal's ability to cause storms so if we want to strip Aesakal of his power, we have to diminish Apollo's ability to kill fertility. Basically, to get to Aesakal, we have to go through Apollo" Andrea said.
"So that's how it works" Josec realized what Master Andrea was getting at.
"Defeating the generals takes a lot of preparation. It cannot be achieved through combat alone" Master Pheisl said.
"After all, to combat them is to combat nature itself, more or less though the generals are natural enemies to nature's balance" Master Colette said.
"Then we have no time to waste! PSYCHORAGE ABILITY! SILVER PHOENIX LEGEND!" Josec called out.
There was a great surge of lightning around him.
"Wh-What's this?! My power…it feels different!" Josec exclaimed as silver flames began to erupt around him along with the lightning sparks.
The flames slowly turned crimson and the elements encased Josec in an orb. The orb grew larger and out of it burst a silver phoenix except for one difference…
"Josec! Your psychorage!" everyone but the Masters exclaimed in awe.
The phoenix was completely silver, except for its wings which were pure crimson.
"What did you expect? He did inherit the crimson wings of Jo-lan after all. His psychorage is slowly beginning to take form" Master Fencer said.
"M-My wings" Josec exclaimed in awe.
He recalled his father's crimson wings and smiled.
"Hop on, I'll take us to Imperium" Josec volunteered.
"I'll guide you" Estelle volunteered.
Harry nodded.
"Feels wonderful to finally psychorage after a while" Josec said with a laugh and flapped his wings to release some stress.
The others hopped unto his back. With a loud shriek, the phoenix leapt into the skies and travelled at tremendous speed.
"Hang on for just a little longer, continent of Vung, we're on our way!" Josec declared with fierce determination.