A day had passed since the duel between Josec and Fencer took place. Josec sat with Buern, Harry, Estelle and Jason. He was reflecting on his shield and the final element of defensive combat, the element of neutralization.
"At the final instant when I attacked Master Fencer; by matching my movements, he not only neutralized the force of my physical attack but by matching elemental wavelengths with me and using my elemental attack to psychorage improv. he completely neutralized my elemental attack as well" Josec thought to himself.
"Hey Jo, you look really worried, you must be thinking of the Defenders' Shield Of Elemental Neutralization aren't you?" Harry asked.
"You read my mind Harry" Josec said with a laugh.
"Is it something you can master?" Jason asked.
"I won't know until I get some actual practice however I doubt I can effectively learn this skill by relying on the Killer Ghost Frenzy alone" Josec said seriously.
"Why not?" Estelle asked.
"Regardless of my ability to multiply using speed, I am essentially still one and the same person exactly as Buern said which implies that I already know which set of moves I am going to attack with whenever I defend myself while fighting with the Killer Ghost Frenzy. I am beginning to understand what Buern meant by the need to battle different people to get a feel for the wideness of combat" Josec confessed.
"And that is?" Jason asked.
"In battling other people, there is an element of uncertainty attached to their attacks and one's ability to defend against those attacks. That uncertainty is eliminated when I train alone utilizing the Killer Ghost Frenzy because I know how I will attack and can thus accurately defend against those attacks" Josec explained.
"I see" Estelle admitted.
"To master the Defenders' Shield Of Elemental Neutralization, you need great observation skills, the ability to predict an opponent's attacks and to utilize that foresight to match an opponent's movements and elemental attacks and thus neutralize them. It's not something that can be achieved through training alone" Buern said.
"So you need our help with your training? Why don't you just come out and say it Jo?" Harry teased.
"I think we should help Josec with his training. Though we have achieved some level of mastery over the Psychorage Improv. we are yet to incorporate our lessons on affinity into our fighting styles and I doubt we are currently utilizing the Psychorage Improv. to its full potential" Estelle admitted.
"I'm not really suited to combat but I think the principles I could learn from this may be useful to me in the future" Jason admitted.
"Then it's decided then. We'll help Josec master the Defender's Shield Of Elemental Neutralization" Buern said.
Everyone nodded in agreement.
THAT AFTERNOON…
Josec stood surrounded by Harry, Buern, Estelle and Jason. Buern cracked her knuckles excitedly.
"I'm not holding back Josec" she said with an unpleasant smirk.
Josec laughed. In the next instant, he replicated into four Josecs, each facing one of the students. Buern assumed a very serious look.
"Impressive Josec. You intend to fight all four of us in one on one battles simultaneously" she said.
"What are you so impressed about Vane? Josec's the one that's going to lose" Harry said confidently.
A moment later, combat broke out between the four Josecs and each of his opponents. Buern attacked fiercely. Josec parried her attacks, his shield reacting almost instinctively to her attacks due to his previous training sessions with the Masters, the private sessions with the Killer Ghost and the battles against the Generals Of Souryu. As Buern battled Josec, she observed him closely.
"His battles up until now have been focused around defending against the assault of multiple afterimages or assaulting a single target with multiple afterimages. It was only in his battle to learn the Labyrinth Of The Defender that he attempted assaulting multiple targets with multiple afterimages" Buern thought as Josec blocked a blow.
Buern battled him continuously while shifting her position to allow her to view his battle against the others. Josec appeared evenly matched in his battle against the others and fortunately, they were all conserving energy and had not yet assumed the Psychorage Improv.
"Usually, one would think that in battling multiple targets simultaneously, one's focus would be divided especially since we are all attacking Josec at the same time however he is battling us all as though he were fighting a single person. His attention doesn't appear divided and he is equally focused on each of the battles. Such mental fortitude is almost…inhuman" Buern thought.
As they continued to battle, Buern began to notice Josec's fighting style become less and less tense and soon he began to match her movements with fluid grace. It wasn't only with Buern, Josec was matching the movements of the other three students as well.
"Within this short period, he is already beginning to get the hang of the rhythm of our attacks. What is even more amazing is the fact that he is reacting to four completely different rhythms of combat simultaneously" Buern observed just as Josec sidestepped causing her punch to miss and then leapt back to reassume his defensive stance.
"Impressive Josec, try to keep this up once we equip our Psychorage Improvs" Buern said as she shot water towards Estelle who simultaneously shot flames at her and Harry. Harry in turn shot wind at Jason and in an instant all four students except for Josec had assumed Psychorage Improv states.
Then the four students began to attack Josec. Josec leapt back and focused on evading their attacks for the meantime while matching their movements.
"I see. We usually assume our improvs by firing our elements to our allies who equip them and vice versa. Originally, it was a painful process and it took quite a while to assimilate the elements. We dealt with the pain by adjusting the output strength of our elements to tolerable levels for our allies. However, we eventually mastered the process. We've only ever thought of it as a means to enhance our physical attributes and eliminate our natural elemental limitations. To think that this technique could be used as a means to neutralize a foe's attacks while enhancing our own abilities was something we never foresaw" Josec thought as he continuously evaded his comrades' attacks with his superior speed.
"However there is another limitation to consider when attempting to utilize the Shield Of Elemental Neutralization with the Killer Ghost Frenzy while battling multiple opponents simultaneously. Since I am essentially the same person, any element I equip will be replicated through all of my afterimages which implies that I can only utilize the Shield Of Elemental Neutralization against one opponent at a time while defending against other opponents until I switch my improv." Josec realized.
Then as he evaded Buern's next attack, a memory flashed within his mind, a memory of Buern's words after she observed the Killer Ghost Frenzy.
"No Josec, you don't seem to realize what you've done. First of all, it should be impossible to make physical contact with an afterimage because you are still essentially at one place at one time regardless of the illusion of multiplicity. It's not impossible to use the illusion of multiplicity to take down greater numbers of foes though because you could choose which foe to make contact with at which time…" Buern's words rang within his mind.
"I could choose which foe to make contact with at any particular time!" Josec realized as he evaded Buern's next attack.
"Buern, Harry, Estelle and Jason are all attacking me simultaneously, that is certainly true, however their fighting styles are all different and so are their rhythms of combat. This difference in their combat rhythm implies that in spite of their simultaneous attacks, their blows never strike at exactly the same time" Josec thought as his father's words concerning the Killer Ghost rang within his mind.
"What is the Killer Ghost dad and why is it unique only to our clan?" Josec recalled his question to his father.
"It is a Martial Art that combines the Eyes Of The Phoenix, the ability to perceive need and be there to act with the Wings Of The Phoenix that make things that are normally impossible possible. When used in combat it is a technique that seeks out the vulnerabilities of a foe and instantaneously transports the practitioner there creating chances to attack" Josec's father's words rang within his mind.
"So far, I have only been utilizing the Eyes and Wings Of The Phoenix in combat against Souryu's Generals but if what dad said is true, one cannot truly master the Killer Ghost without both elements" Josec said as he shut his eyes.
When he opened them, they had assumed the likeness of the Phoenix. Crimson Wings Of Flame sprouted on his back. This effect was replicated throughout all of his afterimages. Buern and the others opened their eyes in surprise.
"Finally decided to take this fight seriously Josec? Since we Psychorage Improv.d, you haven't even attacked once. You've only been evading our attacks" Buern said.
Josec smiled.
"First, I'll focus on controlling the rhythms of their attacks with my own rhythm and thus widen the timespan between their collective attacks" Josec thought as he began to evade their attacks by adjusting the speed of his evasions to each of his comrades.
He also created intentional openings in his defense thus luring them to attack at different times. By doing this, he slowly widened the timespan between their collective attacks. He slowly began to get the hang of their collective rhythms and memorized the timespan it took between one student's attack and the next student's attacks.
"I see…so this is the true potential of the Killer Ghost" Josec thought to himself.
"The timespan between their attacks is now almost constant and by evading in ways that create intentional openings and lure them into attacking in specific ways, I can control the rhythm of their attacks" Josec thought as he continued to evade their attacks.
Master Fencer and the other Masters had arrived on the scene and were secretly observing Josec's progress.
"He's slowly gaining mastery over Vega's Killer Ghost" Master Luna, Josec's mother observed.
"Yeah, he's finally beginning to integrate both the Eyes and the Wings Of The Phoenix into his battle style" Master Fencer noted.
"From the way he's moving and from the gradual increase between the timespans of his opponents' attacks and the constant adjustments he appears to be making to the collective rhythms of his opponents' attacks, he must intend to utilize the element of the Shield Of Elemental Neutralization only possible for members of the Fenix Clan" Master Kyem said.
"It's about time I commenced my counteroffensive" Josec thought to himself just as Buern attempted to punch him with a flaming fist.
Josec raised his arms in defense.
"He intends to block my attack" Buern thought.
Just when her attack hit Josec, he assumed a fiery improv. thus neutralizing Buern's attack. Harry was attempting a high turning kick as well. Josec blocked his kick.
"Since Buern and Harry both have flame improvs, it's best to take both their attacks simultaneously" Josec thought to himself just as Harry's attack was neutralized as well.
Estelle attacked with a low kick and Jason blew a stream of wind towards Josec.
"I adjusted their rhythms so that Buern and Harry's attacks would hit simultaneously since they are both utilizing flame improvs however for Estelle and Jason, I adjusted the rhythm of their attacks for a momentary delay between them since their improvs are of different elemental affinities" Josec thought as he blocked Estelle's low kick with a low kick of his own and assumed a water improv.
The effect was replicated throughout all of his afterimages. The elemental force of Estelle's attack was neutralized and the physical force of the kick was blocked. Then Josec received Jason's wind attack and assumed a wind improv. replicating the effect throughout his afterimages.
Master Kyem stared at him in shock. Buern and the others were surprised as well.
"He's gained another level of mastery over the principle of affinities" Master Kyem said.
"And by so doing amplified his adaptability" Master Fencer said with a smile.
"Without the Eyes Of The Phoenix, it would be almost impossible to sense the rhythm of his opponent's attacks with this level of accuracy and without the Wings Of The Phoenix, it would have been almost impossible to adjust the rhythm of his opponents' attacks to his advantage. Yes indeed, Josec has finally mastered the aspect of the Killer Ghost achieved only by his father Vega, the Elemental Rainbow Dance Of The Fenixes" Master Luna stared in great astonishment as her son's elemental affinity kept changing rapidly in response to the attacks of the other students thus creating the impression of a Rainbow.
Eventually, Buern, Estelle, Harry and Jason decided to call it quits since they could sense that they were not making any progress towards overcoming Josec.