Benjamin was running with Xander.
He wasn't really focusing as he kept thinking about what Jackie said.
Why would she want to fight all of them at once, he thought.
Jackie may have been good, but she wasn't that good.
Benjamin thought back to his freshmen year.
The tournament that year provided the only opportunity for Benjamin to watch Jackie fight seriously.
She had been fighting Corey of course.
Both of them had been fighting like their lives depended on it.
Corey seemed to have the upper hand for the majority of the fight until Jackie ended the move in one strike.
The point was that Jackie was struggling to fight Corey.
That lightspeed dash must be one hell of a move, Benjamin thought.
However, Benjamin couldn't leave it at that.
"Jackie wants to fight Corey, Isaiah, Lennox, and Sean at the same time," Benjamin said to Xander.
Xander immediately looked at Benjamin.
"What?!?" he yelled.
"Keep it down," Benjamin replied as dogs began to bark.
"Why would she do that?" Xander asked, "Even if it was just Isaiah and Corey, she wouldn't be able to win."
"She has this new move called lightspeed dash," Benjamin replied, "In all fairness, she's basically impossible to keep track of."
"Even still," Xander said, "Isaiah's abilities make locking someone down extremely easy."
"He has to focus on her though," Benjamin replied.
"It'll be hard for her to avoid his grasp with Lennox chasing her down," Xander said.
"She must have a strategy to eliminate them one by one," Benjamin said.
"You make her sound like a hunter," Xander replied, "Let's just hope Corey and the others are quick-witted prey."
Corey sat on the floor in his room with his shirt off.
His eyes were closed and blue-gray energy was rising from his body.
Metal objects in his room floated in the air.
Corey was training his soul.
"Corey!" he heard his mom call.
The objects crashed to the floor, leaving the room in disarray.
Corey stood up and shook his head.
I'll clean it up later, he thought.
Corey put on a t-shirt and left his room.
His mom was sitting in the kitchen, sipping some water.
"You called," Corey said, prompting his mother to raise her eyebrows.
"I heard there's a tournament coming up at school," she said, "Nervous?"
"Not really," Corey replied, "The only person I'm even remotely worried about is Jackie."
"I'm sure you'll beat her this time," his mom said reassuringly, "How much stronger could she have gotten?"
"I'll find out tomorrow," Corey replied, "She wants me to spar with her."
Corey's mom nearly choked on her water. "What?!?" she asked.
"If you're worried that I'll get hurt, Isaiah, Lennox, and Sean will be fighting her with me," Corey said, trying to reassure his mother.
"Now I'm even more worried for those three," his mother said, cleaning up the water she spilled.
"I can protect Isaiah," Corey said, "With both of our abilities working together, we shouldn't have a problem."
"You're right," his mom said, "I don't know why I worry so much. You've already proven yourself to be a capable fighter."
"What parent wouldn't be worried about their child's safety when the child is about to fight the strongest in their year?" Corey asked.
"I could think of a few," Corey's mom chuckled.
"Good night Corey," she said, still chuckling.
"Good night," Corey replied, hugging his mom.
As he walked down the hall to his room, his mind was racing.
She cares about me so much, he thought, I can't lose to Jackie this time.
Benjamin stood in front of his father's workplace.
"Why did you want to come here again?" his dad asked, unlocking the door.
"I wanted to test something," Benjamin replied.
He walked into the building and looked around.
"Do you have any new suits of armor?" he asked.
"In the back," his dad replied, raising an eyebrow.
Benjamin went into the back room.
Just like the last time he was there, suits of armor lay on shelves around the room. Benjamin's heart began to race as he noticed black energy rising from all of the suits. He approached one of the suits and touched it.
The metal was cold, just like last time. Benjamin waited.
He actually had no idea what to do here.
Last time, he just absorbed the shadows automatically.
Now, however, they did nothing.
Maybe there's a phrase or something, Benjamin thought.
"Rise," he said.
Nothing happened.
"Arise," he said.
Nothing still.
Benjamin continued saying random words and phrases, trying to interact with the energy in any way possible.
Benjamin eventually sat down in the center of the room after about 20 minutes of attempts.
What am I missing, he asked himself.
He racked his brain, thinking about words his friends or teachers would occasionally say.
His brain immediately thought of a word his friend, Isaiah, said.
Coalesce, he thought.
Benjamin stood up and walked over to the nearest suit of armor.
He extended his arm and held up his hand to the shadow energy.
"Coalesce," he said.
The energy flared up.
It began to transform into the suit of armor beneath it.
Benjamin looked up in awe.
This hadn't happened last time.
The shadow stood tall.
It looked exactly like the suit of armor it had emerged from.
Benjamin reached out toward the shadow.
It immediately flew into his arm.
Benjamin felt an intense cold travel up his arm and into the center of his chest.
Now this is getting interesting, Benjamin thought to himself.
Benjamin walked around to the suits and extracted their shadows.
Even though he had only extracted six shadows, he already felt stronger.
Benjamin pulled out his sword and empowered it.
The shadow energy that enveloped it was different.
It was darker and more focused than usual.
The sword also empowered faster, reminding Benjamin that he needed to practice empowering his blade.
Benjamin walked out of the backroom with a smile.
"Your test went well?" his dad asked.
"Yep," Benjamin replied.
"Let's go home," he said.