The following day, the Students told the Masters everything they had learnt. The Masters did not seem very surprised but they were amazed at how much the Students had grown.
"I think you should inform the elders of the Phoenix Clan about this as well" Master Fencer suggested.
The Students agreed. That afternoon, they informed the elders of the Phoenix Clan about everything they had learnt so far. The elders smiled.
"Interesting, it appears you have now acquired a comprehensive understanding of the History of Jo-lan and comprehend the lessons needed to defeat Souryu. To that end, we are now willing to show you our true forms" the elders said as a bright light enveloped them.
When the light disappeared, before the Students stood two young men and a young woman. The Students stared at the people before them in shock.
"Th-That's Lucas Bane!" Harry exclaimed in shock.
"And William Fenix!" Josec said.
"And Victoria Vern!" Buern exclaimed.
"H-How are you here?!" Estelle exclaimed in shock.
"Calm down Harry, Josec, Buern, Estelle, Jason, Fleur. We're the same elders you've been training under. As to how we are here now, I'm sure Pheisl must have explained it to you in some terms. The Book of Jo-lan very much like Benedict's Ark which you have witnessed multiple times now in your dreams is the place where all of time converges. This implies that it not only connects you with every Jo-lan Warrior living in the present age but also with your predecessors, those who came before you. All of our experience is recorded within the Book thus the Book is capable of generating images of us to aid you. This image of us grows and becomes clearer the deeper your understanding of Jo-lan becomes" Lucas Bane explained.
"Actually, to be honest, I'm kinda shocked we didn't notice before. Your names and the names of our ancestors were practically identical. I think your forms were what fooled us" Buern admitted.
"And these forms were necessary. We needed to be able to observe your progress without necessarily affecting your actions through the admiration you might have felt for us. These forms were to allow you to lower your guard and allow us to observe your natural selves objectively" William Fenix said.
"And if you've decided to reveal your true forms to the Students now…" Master Kyem said.
Victoria Vern nodded.
"Indeed, it is as you have guessed Fencer. We have approved of the Students" Victoria Vern said.
"May I ask why?" Estelle asked.
"Your comprehension of the Elemental Balance and Wavelengths…you've began to understand the Elemental Balance and its corresponding virtues. That's one reason. You've also grown into the roles inherited by the members of your clans and are able to utilize the Psychorage Fusion, implying your excellent affinity for one another and great capacity for teamwork. That's the second reason. Perhaps more important than the first two reasons is the fact that your actions have inspired excellence in the Jo-lan Students studying here and reestablished long forgotten ties in the physical world" William Fenix explained.
"I see. Makes sense" Buern admitted.
"But if you are the progenitors of the Phoenix Clan, then you must have battled Souryu with the first generation Phoenix Clan. You three and the first generation Phoenix Clan must have formed the Crimson Phoenix. You must have battled Souryu when he was at full strength, before his power was fragmented amongst his generals" Harry said.
The others stared at him in surprise. They knew what he was getting at.
The three elders of the Phoenix Clan nodded grimly.
"What you say is true. We have battled Souryu as the Crimson Phoenix before his power was fragmented amongst his generals" William Fenix said.
"So you must know how much stronger Souryu becomes after the defeat of the last general?" Jason asked.
"Yes, we do. Souryu is a frightening adversary and to some extent, you must understand his power by now" Victoria Vern said.
"We do?" Josec asked.
"At full strength, Souryu has the ability to inflict any of the wide range debilitating terrain alteration abilities his generals could. Famines, Earthquakes, Death, Snowstorms, Tornadoes, Thunderstorms, Hurricanes, he is capable of all of that" Lucas Bane said grimly.
The Students' eyes widened in shock.
"It was to counter this ability that the first generation Phoenix Clan began to study each of the elements into detail and to come to a comprehension of their characteristics as well as the underlying virtue of each element. This study was what led to the development of the Psychorage Improvisation. The Psychorage Improvisation served as the basis through which we could counter Souryu's wide range debilitating terrain alteration abilities" William Fenix explained.
"To counter Souryu, we realized that we also needed the strength to match him. We lacked this strength as individuals and so we commenced study into techniques that would allow us to augment our abilities and that's where Delta Type Techniques and the Psychorage Fusion came in" Victoria Vern explained.
"It was around that time that we began to comprehend Souryu's true terror. Souryu seemed to possess the ability to zone in on fear. Once he was aware of any of our fears, he began to generate forms that matched our fears. Due to this ability, the Crimson Phoenix came close to destroying itself many times. Around that time, we began to realize that the Banes and the Verns were somehow immune to this form of attack. That was when we realized that the Banes had the ability to repel curses. The Verns on the other hand were extremely kind and this kindness strengthened us against our fears. That was when we realized that the Verns possessed the power of inspiration and this inspiration was how they could counter Souryu's ability to zone in on fear. The Verns possessed attributes matching the element of Water. We came to that understanding through our comprehension of the Psychorage Improvisation. Then we discovered that the Banes very closely matched the element of Fire and that was when we realized that the Stones Lucas Bane had in his possession may possess some hidden significance" William Fenix explained.
"What about the Fenix Clan?" Buern asked.
"The Fenix Clan possessed no special resistance to Souryu's dreaded technique. A technique we came to refer to in later years as the 'Flames Of Indignation'. However that might have been a blessing in disguise because the Fenix Clan was the first to realize that Souryu was attempting to destroy the Phoenix Clan through our fears. That was when we came to the realization that the Fenix Clan who possessed the ability to see what was invisible to most closely matched the element of Light. Thanks to this realization, we began to suspect that the Three Clans had somehow been gifted with complementary abilities that seemed to suggest that the only way to defeat Souryu was to unite" Victoria Vern explained. "And that was where the element of Hope came in. We finally understood the significance of the Stones in Lucas Bane's possession".
"With the Banes and Verns acting as a source of inspiration and strength, we could now counter Souryu's Flames Of Indignation and with the Psychorage Improvisation and Fusion, we could counter his wide range debilitating terrain alteration techniques. The ability of the Fenix Clan to point out his vulnerabilities was the final link we needed to finally defeat Souryu" Lucas Bane explained.