The afternoon arrives, hours have passed since the trial began. There have been a few skirmishes here and there, but thankfully, our heroes haven't run into any ambushes yet.
The group has ventured deep into the forest. Geal, Bredgy, and Mathias are still searching for a key without success, and Uruta hasn't sent any messages so far.
"This year's trial is harder than last year," Mathias comments. "The keys are much more spread out this time."
"We haven't even found a single chest, and Uruta hasn't called us at all. This is one of the Chosen One's Trials, after all. They weren't going to make it easy," Bredgy adds.
"Buahaha…! How many more hours are we going to walk? My legs can't take it anymore," Geal laments, visibly exhausted. "I expected something more exciting, not wandering around in a stinky forest…"
"We have to keep searching; there's no other choice," Mathias concludes.
The trio continues walking for a while longer. Soon, they hear a loud call in the distance. They look up and around in all directions.
"That was Uruta! Did she find something?" Geal asks.
Suddenly, the bird descends, flapping its wings violently as it flies toward them. It looks terrified.
"Guys, watch out!" Uruta cries, shedding feathers as he lands.
"What happened, Uruta? You look like you've seen a ghost," Mathias asks.
"There's trouble! Hide wherever you can!" Uruta replies, her voice trembling.
At that moment, the group feels the ground vibrate intermittently. It's a sensation familiar to both Geal and Uruta. They hear distant rumbling that grows louder, drawing closer. Suddenly, a white, devastating beam crashes through a cluster of trees nearby. The group leaps back in shock, their hearts racing.
Turning to the source of the beam, they see a massive robot looming over them, its shadow engulfing their forms as it strides forward slowly but steadily.
"I-I didn't know the trial included killer robots," Geal stammers, clearly unsettled.
"They don't!" Mathias exclaims, his pupils shrinking to pinpoints.
"Well, well, the tracker worked!" a voice speaks from within the robot. The machine points its laser at Bredgy. "Found you, traitor."
"Ghh—!" Bredgy grits her teeth.
"Traitor? What's he talking about?" Geal asks.
Without another word, the machine suddenly fires its laser at the punk girl. She leaps backward, spinning in midair to avoid the attack as quickly as she can. Geal and Mathias ready themselves for battle, summoning their weapons.
"You ran away like a coward! The boss wants you dead for abandoning the group!" the robot's pilot declares, keeping his weapon trained on her. "No one betrays Royal Mechanic and lives to tell the tale!"
"Royal Mechanic? Are they the ones who wanted you to steal my Crystal?" Geal asks, raising her shield defensively.
"Stay back, guys!" Bredgy orders. "I'll handle this. Fighting Royal Mechanic is too dangerous. Only my Black Crystal can defeat it."
Stepping forward, Bredgy summons her Halloween Scythe and prepares for combat. She pauses to think about the situation while her friends remain confused.
"Yes, this is all part of the plan," Bredgy thinks. "Mr. Dubh warned me yesterday that a robot would infiltrate the trial. All I have to do is fake a fight with this recruit and protect Geal. If I save her from a Royal Mechanic attack, she'll believe I really left the gang and start to trust me. That'll make finishing this mission much easier."
Meanwhile, the robot's pilot smirks darkly.
"Heh, heh, heh. The boss ordered me to stage a fight, but I've got a better idea," the thug thinks, grinning wickedly. "I'm going to kill that brat Geal! If I steal her Crystal myself, the boss will recognize me and promote me. To hell with that spoiled brat Bredgy! I'll do what she couldn't and become Mr. Dubh's right hand!"
Cracking his whip, Mathias steps forward to counterattack.
"We're not letting you fight alone, Bredgy! We're a team now!"
The battle begins! Mathias lashes out at the robot's cockpit.
"DRAGON TAIL WHIP!!"
However, the machine is protected by an invisible shield that repels the impact with an electric hum.
"My whip hit something!" Mathias notices.
"Wait, I told you not to fight it!" Bredgy protests.
"This machine is equipped with a force field! It doesn't matter how strong you are—no attack can reach me!" the attacker boasts, confident of his victory.
Madly, the pilot fires his laser indiscriminately. The group dodges as best they can, the beam scorching leaves and trunks alike. The heroes regroup, weapons raised, facing the brutal power of the machine.
"Royal Mechanic will rid the world of its dependency on Crystals," the robot declares. "We'll make everyone embrace technology to live! And for that, we must eliminate the pests standing in our way!"
The robot attacks again, firing short but deadly bursts. Miscalculating her dodge, Geal is struck in the calf by one of the lasers. She falls, wounded. Fortunately, it's only a superficial injury, but blood begins to pour, and she can't stand. Mathias and Uruta look at her, enraged.
"Ghhh—!" Geal groans in pain.
"Human bodies are fragile and easy to destroy. No matter how much they train, they'll always have the same limitations," the robot declares, extending its arms. "Machines have no weaknesses. That's why we are superior!"
The robot's cannon arm transforms, forming a thinner but more precise barrel. It begins charging an attack aimed directly at Geal, locking its sights on her.
"And you, little girl, are an obstacle to the world we want to create… I'll make you disappear!" the pilot mutters.
Geal can do nothing but watch helplessly.
"Wait, the recruit is going too far… getting rid of Geal wasn't part of the plan!" Bredgy thinks, beginning to panic.
"I-I can't move!" Geal cries, desperately trying to lift her leg.
And then it happens—the maniacal recruit fires a thin laser straight at Geal. There's no way for her to dodge, and her shield won't withstand the impact. She's doomed.
As if time slows, Mathias watches his friend's imminent demise. His face turns pale in an instant. He doesn't know what to do...
"Geal!!!"
*
We travel back in time, about seven years ago, on an afternoon in Canvas Village. There we see Mathias, then only twelve years old. His Crystal is still Yellow, and his body is much scrawnier.
The boy is surrounded by three older, bulkier kids, each with strong Crystals and mischievous grins on their faces. Although Mathias looks battered and has clearly been crying, he stands firm in front of them, clenching his fists.
"I'm not afraid to say it: I'm going to be the next Chosen One!" Mathias sobs, trying to fake some courage.
The boys burst into mocking laughter.
"Come on, not even you believe that, Mathias," says one of the boys, the leader, speaking with a sneer. He's the tallest of the three. "You're the weakest kid around here. Look at that tiny whip of yours—you won't get far if you leave town. Let's teach you a lesson so you drop that dumb dream!"
The other two kids grab Mathias by the arms. He struggles to break free, but his body is too light, and he's not strong enough. No matter how hard he tries, he can't escape.
"Let me go!" he shouts.
"I'm going to break your Crystal! It'll turn White again!" the leader threatens.
"No! Wait—please, don't! It took me so much effort to train it. Stop, please!" Mathias pleads, kicking desperately.
Suddenly, a stink bomb explodes nearby, releasing a cloud of green, rancid smoke. The boys cough and back away, letting go of Mathias. As they try to breathe, their throats feel like they're burning. Mathias falls to the ground, sitting in confusion but also relief.
Through the smoke steps a young Geal, just eleven years old at the time. She's wearing a clip on her nose to avoid being affected by her own attack. Digging into her pocket, she pulls out another clip and offers it to Mathias.
"Put this on!"
Without seeing her face yet, Mathias obeys and clips it onto his nose. The other kids keep coughing.
"Ugh! This stench isn't going away for weeks," one of them complains. "Grrr! Stupid girl! Who are you?!"
"You said you're going to be the next Chosen One, didn't you?" Geal asks Mathias, standing with her back to him.
It takes Mathias a few seconds to respond, understandable given that until now, everyone had mocked his dream. But his emotions win out, and he speaks.
"Y-Yeah! My dream is to be the Chosen One!" he replies in a timid voice.
A smile forms on Geal's face.
The ruffians, enraged, charge at her. She counters by throwing a jar of cockroaches that shatters on the head of the one leading the charge. The insects crawl over their bodies as soon as they're released.
"They're…!"
"Cockroaches…!"
Feeling the disgusting bugs, the three bullies run off, crying and yelling for their mothers. Geal and Mathias are left alone and safe. The smoke clears, revealing the two of them under the sunset.
"So, we have the same dream!" Geal says to Mathias, turning around and smiling.
The closeness of Geal's face makes Mathias blush. She extends her hand to help him up. The boy is stunned.
"My name's Geal, and I want to be the Chosen One too! What's your name?" she asks kindly.
"M-Mathias… I'm Mathias," he stammers.
The young Geal lets out an innocent laugh, finally finding someone in the whole town who shares her ambition.
"Hey, since we have the same dream, why don't we train together? If we get strong, those jerks won't bother you again. What do you say?"
Geal's lively personality stirs something inside Mathias. With a hand trembling from nervousness, he shyly takes his new friend's hand, and she helps him to his feet.
"Mathias, let's make a promise," Geal says with a bright smile. "One day, one of us will become the Chosen One. No cheating allowed! From now on, we're friends and rivals."
As the wind ruffles their hair, Mathias takes a moment to think. Soon, he smiles and lets himself go with the flow. He nods.
"Y-Yeah! Let's become the Chosen One!"
*
We return to the present, where Geal is moments away from being killed by the robot's laser beam.
After remembering everything he has done to get to this moment, without hesitation, Mathias leaps and tackles Geal out of the way. He takes the laser attack to his shoulder, the beam piercing through his flesh and causing blood to gush out under the stunned gaze of everyone.
"That boy! He jumped to protect Geal… W-Why would he do something so reckless?" Bredgy thinks, as astonished as the others.
Hiding the obvious pain in his shoulder, covering the bleeding with his hand, Mathias stands firm and resolute. With his back to Geal and without looking at her, just as she had done that day, he puffs out his chest toward the robot. Geal watches him, overwhelmed.
She is stunned by her friend's heroic act.
"I know… the human body is so fragile. We're just bags of flesh and blood," Mathias says as blood continues to drip from his elbow. "But inside that flesh and bone, we have a heart! A heart that lets us protect those we care about and fight for our dreams. That's something a machine can never match!"
"You arrogant brat! Don't think you're all that just because you stopped one of my lasers! One more, and you're toast," the robot declares, aiming its laser again. "No more games! This attack will obliterate you!"
The boys are out of options, cornered by the machine as its laser cannon powers up. But then, Uruta, setting aside his fear, puffs out his chest, trembling but with an idea.
"Guys, cover your ears! I've got something that might work!" the bird interrupts at the last moment. "I'm going to use 'that'."
"Are you serious? But we don't know if it will work. Besides, it'll drain all your energy..." Geal protests.
"Trust me!"
"What is 'that'?" Bredgy wonders, clueless about what he means.
With no other choice, the others comply, covering their ears as tightly as they can. Moments later, Uruta transforms into his giant form, now almost as big as the robot.
"You think you're so tough with your metal body, you hunk of junk? Let's see how you like this!"
The robot trains its weapon on Uruta, ready to fire. But instead of launching a physical attack, Uruta lets out an ear-piercing song, unleashing visible sound waves that ripple through the air. The vibrations shake the trees and ground, reverberating through the chests of everyone who hears them.
"GHOST BIRD'S SONG!"
"A sonic attack! That penetrates the force field! No—!" the robot's pilot stammers.
The sound is so powerful that it overloads the robot's circuits, sparks flying everywhere. One after another, its systems fail. Micro-explosions erupt within its hardware, causing the machine to shut down entirely.
Finally, the steel giant ceases to function, and its cockpit opens, revealing a scrawny man who tumbles out unconscious, hitting the ground face-first.
"Never underestimate the power of Spirit Birds!" Uruta declares with a hint of pride.
Though the situation was tense, the battle is over. Uruta reverts to his normal form and collapses to the ground, conscious but utterly drained. The transformation has sapped all his energy. Meanwhile, Mathias rushes to Geal.
"Geal! Are you okay?" he asks, concerned.
Moved, our heroine turns to Mathias with a sweet smile.
"You didn't hesitate to jump in and save me. You could have died, but you stayed strong. That was… very brave of you, Mathias," she says, her eyes glistening. "I'm glad you're still the same kind-hearted boy."
Hearing this, Mathias blushes, exchanging smiles with Geal.
"Mathias, what's happening to your Crystal?" Uruta asks from the ground.
Everyone focuses on Mathias's Crystal. It's glowing intensely, its aura shifting colors. Mathias can't believe what he's seeing and grins, elated.
"My Crystal is…!"
Then, the glow fades, but the Crystal has changed. Its color has shifted from blue to brown. It's stronger now!
"Mathias, your Crystal evolved!" Geal exclaims.
"Yes! I did it! Yes!" the boy cheers, shouting and celebrating.
In the background, Bredgy allows herself a faint smile, only to return moments later to her usual serious expression. It wasn't feigned—she seems to have genuinely felt a brief moment of joy for the team's victory. Was it an involuntary reaction, or could something within her be changing?
We'll have to follow the story to find out...