"Today is the last day we shall be spending down in this canyon. Before we begin the last part of your training, I just wanted to say how proud I am of you two. I honestly didn't know what to expect from you two when we first started this. But you're both survivors, and you pushed through the training and have carried yourselves to a new level of strength. Pass or fail this next challenge, you both have done amazingly." Brandon said proudly, looking at Kaito and Nozomi.

The sun shines directly from above them as they stand in the middle of the canyon floor. Kaito and Nozomi smile brightly at Brandon, happy their training is finally coming to an end.

"Thank you for taking us in and training us. If it wasn't for you, odds are we would've been killed in that alley or worse. You've given us a new life, we're forever in your debt." Nozomi said and Kaito nods in agreeance.

"You don't owe me anything, we're friends now. I'll always look out for you two, no matter what." Brandon said.

"So, what is the final part of our training?" Kaito confidently asked.

Brandon pulls out a small silver bell with a red ribbon attached to it. The bell jingles as he holds it in front of him, showing them.

"Your task is to get this bell away from me. Only one bell, so that means only one of you can pass. You're to come at me as if your life depends on it, there are no rules about how you can attack me." Brandon explained.

"Wait, only one bell? How is that fair?" Nozomi questioned.

"Then consider this, two lessons in one. Life isn't fair, good or bad, people very rarely get what they deserve in this world." Brandon explained.

Brandon throws off his hooded cape, revealing his clothes underneath. He wore a solid black shirt with a small picture of a buttercup near the right shoulder. His pants were matching in color going all the way down to his boots. Hooking the bell to his pants, he stands perfectly still, awaiting their move. Kaito and Nozomi look at each other, hesitant to move. Kaito swallows and begins sprinting full speed towards Brandon. Nozomi was taken aback by Kaito's courage but finally begins running behind him. Kaito lunges forward toward Brandon, his fists covered in black flames. Brandon jumps to the side, dodging Kaito's fists with ease. Nozomi holds her hand forward as she runs, ice spikes materialize behind her and fly towards Brandon. Several ice spikes begin flying toward Brandon at a rapid pace. He swipes his hand across in front of him and flames shoot out, melting the ice away. While he was distracted by Nozomi, Kaito flings a fireball from behind. Brandon barely manages to dodge it in time. Kaito's black flame burns the canyon floor without rest. Without waiting, Kaito gets in close and begins swinging his fists relentlessly at Brandon. Black embers fly off Kaito's hands, nearly hitting Brandon's face. He grabs Kaito by the wrist and throws him across into a nearby boulder. Kaito cries out in agony as his back slams into the boulder.

"You two will have to do better if you want this bell. So far, you haven't even come close to touching it, let alone getting it away from me." Brandon said, crossing his arms.

Kaito grits his teeth in pain as he stands up from the ground. Nozomi takes this chance to get behind Brandon and casts another ice spell. The ground begins shaking beneath Brandon, and he jumps to the side as a massive ice spike shoots upwards from the ground, nearly impaling him. Just as Brandon's feet touch the ground, he has to jump once again to dodge another spike. Kaito begins running and as the next ice spike moves to Brandon, Kaito goes for the bell. As Brandon jumped backward, Kaito lunged forward, striking Brandon across the face with one hand and grabbing the bell with his other. Brandon is thrown back and crashes onto the ground, his face burned from Kaito's fist. Kaito proudly stares down at the bell.

"Dammit, I can't believe that I lose!" Nozomi cried out, pouting.

Her ice spikes begin to melt, soaking the once dried dirt. Brandon slowly stands up from the ground and holds his left hand over his cheek. His hand glows a soft green and the burned skin returns to normal.

"So I guess that means I won the final training task," Kaito said, grinning a cocky grin.

"Wipe that grin off your face, you've both failed your final task," Brandon said without hesitation.

"Failed?! How the Hell could I have failed? I got the bell just like you told me to do!" Kaito exclaimed.

"Did you ever stop to question as to why I let both of you fight me at the same time? Every session we've done, I've had you doing it alone and separate from each other. Why do you think now suddenly I would have you both doing the same task at the same time?" Brandon questioned, walking over to Kaito.

"Because it wouldn't be a fair fight if we went one on one?" Nozomi questioned.

Brandon snatches the bell away from Kaito and shoves it into his pocket.

"While that is technically true, the real point was teamwork! Not once did you two work together, why is that? You had no reason not to work together, but because you were afraid of failing, you worked against each other. Nozomi, why the hell would you use offensive magic against me? Yes, we trained your offensive magic, so you could better protect yourself. However, at the end of the day, we honed your supportive magic more than anything else. You learned how to do barriers, heal wounds properly, and boost someone else's physical and magical abilities. You could've made Kaito move faster, make his flames burn hotter, but instead you went on the offensive. Kaito, you were so zoned in on getting close that you left Nozomi alone. You know she can turn the tide of a battle in your favor, you shouldn't leave her open for an attack so easily. You ran in without thinking, there was no planning. Not only that, but you tried to brute-force your way through this task, just because you've gotten a little stronger since we started training." Brandon said with disappointment.

Kaito and Nozomi look at each other, ashamed of their actions.

"Please give us another chance, we'll do better this time," Nozomi begged.

"No, this was the last task, you both failed. Accept that with some dignity and move on." Brandon stated.

Everyone quietly packs the camp up, getting ready to leave the canyon. Kaito and Nozomi exchange looks of disappointment as they pack. Brandon doesn't say anything nor looks at them the entire time. Once camp was put together and teleported away, they make their way up the ramp, finally leaving the canyon floor. Kaito and Nozomi follow behind Brandon in silence. As they reach the top, a figure rushes toward Brandon and punches him in the face. In an instant, Brandon flies off the side of the ramp, plummeting down towards the canyon floor.

"Brandon!" Nozomi cried out, tears filling her eyes.

She turns towards the figure and fear fills her body. A beast stood before them, as it turned towards them, they began to tremble with fear. The beast was nearly nine feet tall, covered in hair. It stood on two feet, but it hard the head of a boar. It wore clothes like a human and even had arms and hands like a human. Its legs were like a boar with hooves at the end. The beast wore a plaid shirt and blue jeans like a lumberjack. Small tusks protruded from its mouth, curving upward. It blows air out of its snout and stares them down.

"I know you're scared, I'm scared too, but I need you to focus," Kaito said to Nozomi, readying his fists.

"What about Brandon? He needs our help!" Nozomi said, fighting back tears.

"There is nothing we can do about him right now, we need to focus on this guy before we end up like Brandon." Kaito barked.

The beast tires of their talk and lunges forward, they jump to the side and the beast's fist crashes into the ground, making a hole. The ground trembles from its strength. Kaito readies his flames on his fist, positioning himself in front of Nozomi to defend her.

"We failed once at teamwork, we can make it right this time," Kaito said.

"You're right, let's do it," Nozomi said, holding her hands on Kaito's back.

Her hands begin to glow a yellow hue and began to spread over Kaito's body. Once his entire body softly glowed yellow, she removed her hands and readier several ice spikes behind her. Kaito lunges forward, his speed significantly increasing to the point that his feet crumbled the ground beneath him as he ran forward. Nozomi launched her ice spikes, causing the beast to cover his face trying to block. Kaito jumps into the air above the beast. It uncovers its face as Nozomi's ice attack stops, it looks up and sees Kaito above it. Before Kaito's fist strikes the beast, Nozomi aimed her hands toward him. The flame covering his fists went from just a simple flame to a violent flame that engulfed his entire arm. His fist comes down on the beast's head, sending it plummeting towards the ground. The ground shatters as the beast crashes into it. Kaito lands on the ground and the flame goes out. Nozomi runs up next to him.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"Yeah, that was excellent work, sis. I wish I could make the flames that strong without the assistance." He said, looking down at his hands.

Suddenly, the beast stands up and swings for Kaito's head. Kaito closes his eyes in fear and tries to block the attack. The ground shakes as the beast's fist comes in contact with a glowing blue dome. Kaito opens his eyes and see's Nozomi's barrier protecting him. The beast began rapidly smashing its fist into the wall, with each punch it cracked a little more.

"Better think of something fast" She called out, keeping her hands on the ground.

"On my mark, drop the barrier and amplify my fire as much as you can." He said, aiming both his hands at the beast.

Kaito's flame begins building up at the center of his palms.

"Now!" He called out.

Nozomi dropped the barrier and boosted Kaito's flame. Each one of his hands shot out massive streams of black flames. The beast threw up its arms to block right before the flames reached it. Even with blocking, Kaito's flame begins pushing the beast back little by little. With each passing second, it was being pushed towards the edge of the cliff. Sweat begins rolling down both Kaito's and Nozomi's heads. They were giving this all their strength, and they were reaching a limit for their magic.

"That's enough!" A familiar voice called out.

Suddenly, Kaito's flames fade away and he and Nozomi turn towards the ramp leading down into the canyon. Brandon was slowly walking up the ramp. Kaito and Nozomi both run towards him, hugging him and nearly crying from joy.

"We thought you were dead!" Nozomi cried out, holding onto his right side.

"How did you manage to live, you don't even have a scratch on you," Kaito exclaimed, grabbing his left side.

The beast lets out a snort and stomps on the ground, cutting the reunion short. Its arms were burnt black, skin melted away.

"This guy won't give up. What are we going to do?" Kaito said, readying his fists again.

Brandon walks up to the beast, staring it in the eyes the entire time. He stops just a couple of inches away from it. Nozomi and Kaito watch closely, waiting to see Brandon's attack. Brandon holds up his hand and the beast shakes hands with Brandon. Kaito and Nozomi's mouths drop open in shock. Brandon and the beast smile at each other.

"It's good to see you, old friend, how have you been?" Brandon asked.

"I've been well, business is better than ever, I see you've been doing well with your training." The beast said, snorting in between some of its words.

Before Brandon and the beast could continue, Kaito runs up to them.

"Brandon, what the Hell is going on? This guy just punched you off the cliff and fought us. Why are you shaking hands and talking to it?" Kaito questioned with confusion.

"Firstly, his name is Wort, secondly, he only attacked because I asked him to. I was almost certain that you two would fail the final bit of training. So I asked Wort here to attack us as we left. Sending me over the cliff and leaving you two alone. It would put your teamwork to the ultimate test. In a real battle, you managed to work together quite well." Brandon explained.

"Had Brandon not stepped in, I would've gone over the edge from that last attack. Your flames burn hotter than any other flame I've felt." Wort said, looking at his burnt arms.

Nozomi runs up and begins healing Wort's arms. Wort smiled at Nozomi in thanks.

"So where are you headed to next, Brandon?" Wort asked.

"Back to Willowdale, I've finished my training with master Wu, plus I have a question to ask him," Brandon explained.

"Ah, now that you're done training, I imagine the hunt for the artifacts shall continue," Wort said.

"What artifacts?" Kaito asked.

"That's a story for another day, for now, we need to get ready to hit the road," Brandon said.

Brandon and Wort spent a few extra minutes catching up before saying their goodbyes. Once Wort left, Brandon led Kaito and Nozomi back to the main road, and they began their travel to Willowdale.

"How far is this town?" Nozomi questioned.

"It'll take us about two days to reach it. You'll both finally get to sleep in a proper bed again." Brandon explained.

Kaito and Nozomi were bursting with excitement as they made their way down the road.