Project 7 the First: The Hero's Great Come Back

Chapter 34

Chapter 34

Lance was shocked. He did not want to fight Albert. He wanted to change his mind, but he can not seem to persuade Albert.
"Why do you think like this all of a sudden?" asked Lance. "What happened to your optimistic side?"
"Fool," said Albert. "You don't even understand me! Don't even think that you know every single bit of my life!"
"I'm not even saying that I know you well. I just hate it when I see people upset," said Lance. "You're the fool. You can't even get over your father's death. I may still have my parents, so I don't completely understand. But, you need to get over it and move on. You think your dad wants this?"
"How would you know?" said Albert as he raised his voice. "You think it's easy to just forget like that?"
"It's not that easy. Yeah, I know, but your dad doesn't want you to be this way forever. If you keep being like this, then, you won't be able to move on or surpass your dad," said Lance trying to dig deep into his heart.
"Shut up!" Albert shouted as he summoned his katana and lunged at Lance.
Lance quickly dodged it by jumping over him. He landed behind him and got his spear to counter.
Albert was quick to block Lance's spear with his blade. He pushed Lance which made him fall back. He charged with his sword ready to impale him. Then, Lance summoned a thick ice wall. Albert kept slashing it to reach the other side, but the wall did not seem to gain scratches.
"You coward!" Albert said with rage. "Come out and face me like a warrior!"
"I'm not willing to fight, okay?" said Lance calmly. "I just want to talk."
"You'll never change my mind. NEVER!" said Albert as he still continued slashing the wall of ice. Then, he started climbing the wall with his feet. He ran to the top. Afterward, he jumped off the wall with his sword pointing at Lance.
Lance was getting nervous all of a sudden. He skipped away from Albert's landing mark. When Albert landed, he lunged with his sword ready for a slash. His eyes were filled with bloodlust. He was breathing fast. Albert continued to strike a blow, but Lance was quick countering all of his hits. Then, Lance kicked him away. He weaved some hand signs and said, "Raining shards!"
Then, icicles started falling above Albert, but he spun his sword above him to repel all the falling icicles. Lance saw an opening, so he charged with his spear. Albert was quick, so he jumped back and block the swing with his sword. They were both pushing each other with equal force.
"You're a worthy opponent!" said Albert. "Just die already."
"I just wanted to talk," said Lance as he tried to increase his force on pushing him. "What part of that don't you understand?"
"I don't give a damn!" said Albert as he pushed harder than Lance that allowed him to fall back. "It's always about you. You excel at everything during our time in the mortal world. Everybody always acknowledge you. Me? What about me? I just get that do-better-next-time line."
"It's because you always have doubts inside you," said Lance as he tried to stand up. "You never let go of those doubts. That's why you always make the same mistake. Just try letting go of the past and face what's at the present."
"What if I don't want?!" said Albert as he charged with his sword pointing at Lance. He took advantage of an openeing and stabbed Lance in the abdominal area. "You're just a sorry excuse."
"You're wrong," Lance whispered in his ear. Suddenly, his body started to form into a gaseous state. His body separated into particles like a mist. Then, the mist formed behind Albert.
When Albert turned to look at him, he was shocked. Lance was still looking fine like nothing happened.
"Frost mage technique: Cold Mist Scatter," said Lance.
"You're a pain!" Albert exclaimed. He summoned another katana in his other hand. Then, he charged at Lance with both swords. "First dance: Scarlet King Snake." Suddenly, his blades began glowing into a shade of bright red. Then, he lunged at Lance with his swords. When Lance was about to block the hit, Albert suddenly dodged flexibly like a snake. He took the opportunity to land a hit, so he was able to slash Lance with both swords leaving an X on his chest.
Lance did not expect that. At this rate, he thought he did not have a chance against him. He tried to leap back to avoid his advantage to slither flexibly like a snake at the same time move rapidly.
"What's wrong?" Albert asked. "Unable to continue?"
"Would you just listen?" said Lance.
"No way! Second Dance: Crouching Tiger!" said Albert as his blade glowed yellow. He crouched like he was about to pounce. He leaped and lunged at Lance. He swung his blade with skill. Suddenly, he took up speed and tried to land a hit; but Lance caught up to his speed. He was trained for people who are as skilled as Albert.
He kept spinning his spear as he juggled it around his body to block all possible strikes that Albert would aim for. Lance swung his spear upward making Albert let go of his other sword. The sword went flying, and it got stuck on the ground. Albert rushed to his sword to get it, but he can't seem to pull it out if the ground. It was really stuck.
Lance charged at him. He swung his spear in different angles and ways. He kept trying to land a hit, but Albert blocked it with just one sword. As Lance was trying to impale him, Albert bent back quickly allowing the spear to go straight. Then, he kicked Lance's hand, and the spear went flying upward.
Lance immediately jumped to grab the spear. When he did, he spun it around him; and he pointed it downward toward Albert. As he was landing, Albert quickly leaped back. He charged again with one sword, but Lance was able to dodge by simply ducking. Then, he saw an opening and slashed Alert in the cheek using his spear. It was a success. Lance leaped back to weave hand signs. Then, he said, "Frost mage technique: Patient King!" He slammed his hand on the ground. Suddenly, the ground below Albert shook. Then, ice began to come out of the ground forming an ice throne with an ice statue of a king sitting on it.
Albert jumped away from the statue trying to escape.
"You're not getting away!" said lance as he did a han gesture. Then, the body of the ice statue opened. It let out some blue chains that were heading for Albert. Then, the chains wrapped around Albert's appendages and pulled him making him to sit still on the chair. The chair wrapped his arms and legs. It also wrapped his abdominal area for secure.
Albert struggled to break free, but the chains were hard to break. Then, he got weak from struggling; and he stopped to breathe for air.
"You're a tough one to handle," said Lance as he fell on the ground sitting. "You even made me do that."
"Let go of me!" Albert demanded as he struggled some more. "You're a coward!"
"What a pain!" said Lance. He got irritated; so he got up, approched Albert, and punched him in the face so hard that his teeth could possibly detach. "Just stop insulting me! You didn't even land a scratch on me."
"Calm down, Lance," said Pagos out of the blue.
"You've been silent," said Lance as he still tried to calm down from his temper.
"I didn't want to interfere," said Pagos. "Anyway, you should stop this immature brawl, and just talk already. You're both causing a ruckus. Settle this; or, so help me, I would seal both you up in another dimension."
"You heard the man," said Lance to Albert.
Albert let out a deep sigh. "Fine. Who's that guy?"
"Oh," said Lance. "Glad you noticed. This is Pagos, king of the Land of Frost. The most powerful mage of all time."
"And where is he?" asked Albert as he tried to look for him.
"He's in this gem on my spear. He is usually in my necklace; but, since I use a shortcut to transform, the pendant becomes a part of my weapon," Lance explained.
"I see. So, what do you want with me?" asked Albert.
"I heard that your dad sacrifice himself to save a friend," said Lance.
"What about it?"
"Well, I think that he was a brave hero. That friend he saved that day... was none other than my dad," said Lance.
"What?..." Albert was filled with shock. "How would you know?"
"He told me," said Lance. "My dad was really Andy Garrison. Your dad and he were best of friends."
"That means you're family is to blame for my father's death!" said Albert with rage. He continued to struggle with rage. He wanted to break free. "I hate you! Do you even know what it feels like to live with a stepfather? Well, you don't! He mistreats me whenever he likes! He's a damn bastard!"
Lance was irritated, so he punched Albert in the face harder than the first punch. Then, he did a hand sign. Suddenly, the chains wrapped around Albert tightened.
"Idiot!" Lance exclaimed. "Don't say such things. If you hate me, fine; but don't blame my family. Your stepdad might not be a caring parent, but you still have friends, damn it! Why not open up for a change. I'm your teammate. Why can't you open up to me? It's not that hard. If your dad was here, he would might as well beat you up to the bones. He might even say the same thing. With a character like that, you will not be deserved to be called a true warrior."
Albert was speechless for a moment. He tried reflecting on Lance's words. "If I'm not worthy to be called a warrior," said Albert gloomily, "then, just kill me."
"Shut up," said Lance. "I'd never kill my own friend. You were the first one who approached me during that day. I'll never forget that. I bet that's why Paolo keeps clinging on to you."
Albert started to giggle. His sadness began to wane.
"I know that even if you always end up being last during our first few days as a team, you will become a worthy warrior who will fight to the very end," said Lance.
"You're a very interesting fellow, you know that?" said Albert.
Then, Lance almost forgot. He pulled out the necklace out of his pocket.
"Almost forgot," said Lance. "I wanna give this to you. My dad didn't wanna face your family with all the guilt that he carried until now, so he entrusted it to me. This was your dad's necklace. He gave it to my dad before he breathed his last breath. He said that he wanted to give it to you when you're born."
Lance placed the necklace around Albert's neck. Albert felt teary eyed for a moment.
"He... did?" asked Albert feeling the warmth of his dad's aura. Then, his surroundings began to shift.
He was in a greenish space all of a sudden. It was empty. There was no sky nor trees around him. It was just a green space. He noticed that he was not binded to the chair that Lance summoned.
Then, a man stood in front of him.
The man had hazelnut brown hair with a green metal ring around his head. He was wearing a long, teal coat, collared coat with white belt attached to his waist area. He wore a plain lime, v-necked shirt and a pair of black jeans tucked in his combat boots. He also had black fingerless gloves. Behind him were twin blades. He was none other than Arvin Arclight.
Albert did not know what to say. "Are you..."
"What? Can't recognize your old man?" said Arvin.
Albert charged at him and immediated wrapped his arms around his dad. His chest felt warm as he hugged his dad for the first time.
"Oh," said his dad. "That came out of nowhere." He patted Albert in the head. "My, you're all grown up! Forgive me if I wasn't there for you while you were growing up. I really wanted to say a lot of things to you, but I only have a short time. I was only able to transfer a few of my energy to the necklace."
"I have a lot to ask, too," said Albert.
"How are you doing?" asked Arvin. "Are you doing fine with your team?"
"Well, I guess. They're fun to be with sometimes," Albert replied. "Even if I'm usually last, they still cheer me on."
"It's okay to be last," said Arvin. "I used to be that way, too; but I kept training hard. I even mastered the Million Blade technique. That's where I got my title. I even surpassed my best friend."
"You're best friend, huh? The one who made you sacrificed yourself so that he could go live?" Albert said bitterly.
"No, that's not true," said Arvin as he defended his friend. "He is not like that. To be frank, he did many things for me as well. I just returned the favor. He sacrificed himself for me lots of times, so I did one thing that I could repay him with. I value my friends more than my missions. Friends are important in your life. They are the ones who build you up when you're down."
"Well... yeah, but-"
Albert did not know what to say to his dad.
"Friends can also help you get stronger, so stop dwelling in the past and move on. That's all it takes," said his dad with a smile. "I know that my death has affected you the most, but you should try moving on. That's way back in the past. Just keep moving forward. Your friends and teammates are there to guide you."
He realized that his dad was right. If he wanted to get stronger, he needed to move on first.
"I know that you will become a strong warrior one day. I also know that you can surpass my skills. Of course, you are my son. I wish I could spend more time with you," said Arvin.
"I still have one question," said Albert. "What did it take you to become the next Seven Legendary Pillars of Light?"
"Hard work is all it takes," Arvin replied. "The rest is up to you. As long as your team works in harmony, you will get there."
"Thanks, Dad," said Albert with a smile.
"Before I go," said Arvin, "I have already entrusted to you my twin jade dragon blade. Use it wisely. It was passed down to me by our ancestors. It's a very strong weapon, so take good care of it."
"How do I summon it?" asked Albert.
"Your heart is the key to unlock a powerful treasure," said Arvin. "Don't forget that. I guess I can't hold any longer. I need to go now."
"Dad, wait!"
Then, the space faded and Albert was back in the forest tied to the chair.
"Hey!" said Lance. "Are you there?"
"Huh? I'm back," Albert said sadly.
"What happened? You went blank for a moment," said Lance.
"Please, untie me from this thing," said Albert calmly.
"Are you sure?" Lance asked still having his doubts.
"Don't worry. I'm not gonna go rampage," said Albert. "Anyway, we need to find the others and train. That goes especially for you, since you missed yesterday's training."
"Fine."
Lance undid the binding and sealed his powers again by weaving a hand sign.
"Hey, why did you-"
"Sealed my power?" said Lance as he continued Albert's sentence. "I'm not ready to show it to the rest of them yet. I still need to train alone with my power."
"Don't you get it? Lance, you're a frost mage. You're like a rare species," said Albert. "With your power, we could surely win the exams."
"I know, but I still need to work on my abilities and my limitations. I am the frost mage, but I still have weaknesses," said Lance. "Besides, there are already five people who know of my secret. Six including you. This must remain a secret until the exams. If this leaks out, then, the town might even take advantages."
"I see. Okay, I promise that I won't tell," said Albert. He grabbed Lance's wrisk and dragged him to find the others. "Now, what are we waiting for? We need to train! "Roderick still needs to improve his strength."
So, they went to find the others and train.
Suddenly, a woman in a black coat with a cresent mark on her back. appeared out of nowhere. She sat on the tree branch and watched Lance walking away.
"Your secret's safe with me, frost mage. Don't worry," said the woman as she giggled mischievously. "Your time is almost up."
Then, she disappeared with one blow of the wind.

***End of Chapter 34***