Kingdom Hearts: New Key

Yay, Training

Ean raises his blade and a wall of fire follows. Kaze hesitates, unsure of what to do. Instinct takes over as I thrust my blade into the ground and think of an ice wall rushing up out of the ground and surrounding me and Kaze. The balls crash into the wall, sending a volley of vibrations across the thick ice.

"This is pretty nerve racking. Just being suddenly thrown into action like this? Kinda nuts don't ya think?" I shout to Kaze. I feel a little overwhelmed and I need something to off the edge.

"Ye... Yeah... It's a little.... Like scary..." Kaze stammers. He's still hesitant, shaking in either fear or disbelief.

I stand up and put my hand on the wall, instinctively knowing what to do. I feel the ice getting weak and the ice cracking lightly. If the balls continue to hit it, the wall will surely break. My body begins to focus on the wall and pours more energy into it. I feel an extension of the ice, an extra pillar of energy growing outward. As I finish pouring energy into one part of the wall, I hear distant pops and whooshes.

"I... I think you're making them explode. What did you do to the wall?" Kaze exclaims, standing up and looking at me in amazement.

"I don't know, I just poured energy into the wall and that's all. I think I made a pillar of some sort." I respond.

Kaze closes his eyes and seems to be concentrating. I stare at him, unsure of what he's doing. To my immediate left, I hear another impact against the wall and a tiny crackling sound. Guess I have to get on the rest of the wall.

As I place my hands on the wall and begin pouring more energy into the wall, there's a sudden burst of wind to my right and I feel a part of the ice wall break apart. I lose focus and whip my head to see Kaze up and making arcs of wind into the open air. I see balls pop and split in half, shreds of volleyball material flying around all over. Kaze's arms are moving fast, making wind arc after wind arc.

He's not as weak as I thought. He can rise to the occasion when need be then, I think to myself.

I set my focus back on my wall of ice and realize that the pillars I create are actually spikes. I see loads of balls pierced by the large icicle poking out of my barrier. I then turn to my far left and see Ean holding a fire wall up and burning every ball into ash as they come close to him. I begin to feel confident in our obvious talent. That's when Master Tobleman shouts, "Cease fire!" and the balls stop.

Kaze slows his arms to a stop, face drenched in sweat and I stop pouring energy into the wall, my body seemingly sucked of all its energy. Ean stops holding his wall up too, his arm shaking from holding it up too long. The heat from Ean's wall against the metal floor begins to melt my ice. We all collapse onto the ground and breathe heavy. I don't think I've been this tired ever.

Master Tobleman floats from the ceiling, revealing a hidden fixture that seems to house a handful of people and a control pad.

"That was a terrific diagnostic exam, pupils. You three certainly have talent!" he says, a bright smile on his face.

"Thanks Master." Kaze wheezes.

"Yeah, thanks." I pant.

"Same." Ean gasps.

"Yes, gather your breath. You'll need it. I've got another trial for you." he beams at us.

"Wait, hold on, we're already out of energy!" I cry.

"I'm exhausted...  Can we do this later?" Kaze sighs.

"We'll need about an hour to regain ourselves." Ean mutters.

"This one is fairly simple, don't worry." Master Tobleman assures us.

We all breathe a sigh of relief. We've finally caught a break from the hard work of protecting ourselves from high speed volleyballs.

"Yes, very simple indeed," Master Tobleman holds out his hand and summons his keyblade, "Your task right now, is to beat me. Together."