Sixteen years later.

Kariah-Belle Nadire knew she would have bruises from the monster's giant pitch-black hand squeezing her abdomen. She also would vomit any moment if this monster didn't stop flailing her in every direction.

I still haven't brought that bastard, Memphis, to justice, she thought as an image of a man's jagged grin flashed in her mind. She struggled against the monster's grip with all her might. No way am I dying yet!

"Guys," she called to her comrades. "Do something already!"

The humanoid creature roared as it tightened its grip on her, swatting at Lax-Rim, a young redhead with a bright red aura around his person. The young man landed on the side of a building made of chrome-like metal to avoid colliding with Kariah-Belle. He then pounced at the creature, a fierce flame surrounding his fist.

Lax-Rim, Kariah-Belle's childhood friend, excelled in turning mana into flames and was gifted with magnificent instincts. Sadly, his traits weren't enough to evade the large black blade that speared into him after the monster slipped through his attack. Parts of his crimson armor broke off as he crashed into a building.

The monster slung Kariah-Belle upward once again, and she fought the urge to throw up. The evil bearer had such a secure grip on her that she would be a bloody mess in its hands if not for the sky-blue mana surrounding her, giving her body superhuman strength and vigor.

Jet, the team's leader, evaded each of the monster's strikes and leaped from its knee. He spun fast, hitting the creature twice in the abdomen with his green saber. The beast stumbled backward and out of reach.

Just then, Akio, Kariah-Belle's best friend, launched herself at the evil bearer, her emerald-scaled fist glowing a bright green. The monster yielded its black sword toward her fist. A green explosion ignited upon impact and propelled the monster off balance.

Jet tried a follow-up attack, but the evil bearer was fast to react.

The world was whizzing by as Kariah-Belle sailed through the air before colliding with Jet. They crashed into each other hard and slammed against one of the chrome-like buildings. They tumbled a bit before sliding to a halt.

Kariah groaned as sunlight shined down from an opening above. The buildings in this abandoned village were made of chrome-4, one of the eight types of chrome on planet Lore. Most of them hadn't been maintained in years and were corroded.

The young woman sat up, trying to shake the grogginess from her head. Her body ached and her head pounded, but that didn't stop her from getting to her feet. The blue aura that cloaked her shattered, and she fell back to the ground, breathing heavily.

A low growl resonated nearby and the young woman sat up in a hurry once again.

"Darkling!" she shouted at Jet while pointing. The growl turned into a full-on screech as a humanoid, pitch-black monster dashed towards her.

She threw up her arms, too tired from her shattered mana hull to defend herself from the deformed creature.

The monster wailed in pain, and she opened one eye to peek. Jet had his green blade through its torso, then positioned his sword against its neck. Without her mana hull to track Jet's movements, he was blur to Kariah-Belle when he chopped off its head. Black blood gushed from the darkling and splattered across the ground. The body began to dissipate.

"Are you all right?" Jet asked. He was sweating and his armor, resembling steel, was grass green and dented in various places. Dry blood caked his green and black hair.

"Ask me that again once we kill that thing," Kariah answered. She stood and winced, feeling a ping of remorse hit her chest as she watched Jet dash outside the building.

The evil bearers were once human. Kariah-Belle knew they weren't anymore, but she couldn't help but feel pity for the poor souls trapped inside.

I understand how you feel Riah but we can't have you getting lost in empathy. Said Akio in the nurolink--a telepathic device. Of course, she didn't need a link to read Kariah-Belle. The two knew each other like the back of their hand. However, we can't afford for you to get lost in empathy. We need you in formation.

Yeah, I know, Kariah responded. She fortified herself for what she knew she had to do. If she didn't play her part, her team would fail this assignment.

A fire lit inside Kariah. Her honey-gold irises had three white lines and gleamed with excitement. She rubbed under her nose to get rid of the tingling sensation as she grinned at the thought of being one step closer to becoming a Knight.

One step closer to sitting on the Supreme Council.

The honey-gold-haired young woman suddenly felt a disturbance in the link, an indication that someone had been hit hard.

Dread hit, impacting her first, then Lax in the link.

"Akio!" she exclaimed as she dashed for the opening of the building. "Lax-Rim!"

Kariah tried to form a mana hull, but it was of no use. She had used that skill twice already and needed more mana to reform it. Not willing to give up, she continued to gather mana and felt a large chunk of her life force fade away.

Kariah sighed and exited the building in time to see the red-haired young man on his back. The evil bearer's large fist slammed down into him, and Kariah-Belle sprinted at the monster.

"Get away from him!" she shouted in a blind rage. The group had never faced an evil bearer before and they all were petrified. The thing was at least sixty feet tall, with rough pitch-black skin and no mouth. His skin stretched with pockmarks that resembled grieving and sorrowful faces. The thing was scary, but her childhood friend appeared terrified for his life and too groggy to defend himself, which made the young woman furious and frightened that she lost all sense of her surroundings.

Now, rage mixed with other emotions flowed through the link, flooding it with distracting thoughts of guilt, frustration, and anger. Any more and the link would burn out.

Kariah knew that and along with the team's sniper needing focus to gather mana, those concerns were further from her mind than remembering the color socks she wore three days ago.

Kariah-Belle willed mana to form around her body but a weak mana hull flared to life around her.

She leaped for the creature's head, then noticed a strong gust of wind coming out of nowhere. Without warning, the creature quickly reached for her at the same time.

"Fuu-umph!" Kariah would've cursed if Akio hadn't tackled her midair before a large lance made of wind shredded through the evil bearer's upper body.

The two young women tumbled along the ground and quickly rolled to their feet as the lower half of the monster struck the ground. The attack held enough power to destroy its core.

"Lax!" Kariah shouted as she frantically looked for her favorite redhead. Suddenly, she was gazing into Akio's calming emerald eyes.

"Be calm," the emerald-haired young woman told her.

Kariah's best friend was always collected. She envied Akio's ability to maintain her cool at all times, though she knew it was because she had difficulty expressing emotions. Still, being able to keep a level head was extremely useful on the battlefield. A skill Kariah lacked when it came to her loved ones.

Akio being only slightly shorter than herself, placed her pale forehead against Kariah's. Through their aura, Kariah could feel the warmth of her soft skin. Her left cheek was swollen and her bottom lip was busted. Staring into her best friend's eyes held a soothing effect on Kariah-Belle and worked in helping her reign in emotions. Akio pulled away and raised a questioning eyebrow.

"I've calmed," Kariah answered.

Akio stepped aside, and Kariah saw both Jet and Lax-Rim inside a ruined building. Like the ground beneath them, the buildings were covered with greenery. Grass and vines were everywhere. Large trees and branches intertwined with buildings that reached high into the sky. Large and small glowing plants of blue, purple, and green adorned the landscape.

Relief washed over Kariah at the sight of her two comrades safe. She tried to reach them through the Nurolink and realized she couldn't.

"You flooded the link," Akio told her, seemingly reading her mind.

A nurolink could allow a group of five to covey their thoughts and often times let users feel the emotions of another in the same link. However, they could only hold so much emotional destress before they are flooded which renders a link useles for a short time.

Kariah's cheeks flushed with shame. Professor Mar-Gin would definitely take away some points for it.

No time for that now, Ri, Mae Lu said when the link returned online. We're not finished yet. She was the team's sniper.

Like Jet, Mae was orphaned during a Vympiri raid. While she did have some skill with close combat, her ability shined with the bow and arrow. Combined with her use of wind craft, she made for one hell of a markswoman.

Mae, Kariah started to apologize but was cut off. It's fine, Ri. Let us make sure we get you those points back.

Nice shot, Mae, Akio acknowledged. Your mana control has improved greatly.

Th-thank you, responded Mae Lu. The shy girl always stammered whenever someone complimented her. G-gathering mana for phase two.

Lax-Rim must have sensed Kariah-Bell's feelings through the link because he finally spoke.

Ha, said Lax-Rim, and Kariah knew what was coming. Kariah, the crybaby. Do you need me to get your bottle? Kariah-Belle knew he was trying to make her forget about her own guilt in his annoying way. He always teased her when she was was feeling down. She knew he would rather see her fighting spirit.

I just saved your life, crayon! Kariah-Belle retorted with a grin. That had been one of his many nicknames since their days at the orphanage because of his bright red hair.

Oh, that's what you were doing? I thought you were trying to commit suicide.

Being in your messy room is pretty much the only time I think about suicide.

Kariah felt warmth and joy coming from everyone in the link. She could imagine everyone chuckling. Well, everyone except Akio. Her equivalent of a chuckle was a half-smile.

Okay, guys, said Jet. We need to prepare for phase two. Akio. Kariah. You're up first.

Roger, the two said in unison. Akio then handed Kariah her mother's sword. "You dropped something."

"Mah baby! Thanks!" she said, taking the weapon. She had forgotten all about her mother's famed sword in the chaos. She would've been heartbroken to have gotten home and realized she had lost it.

Kariah noticed the black smoke forming around the downed evil bearer. Something gave off a black glow. She assumed it was the core. If only any of them could, they would destroy it before it had the chance to evolve. However, only Mae Lu was capable, and she needed time to shape enough mana for a wind lance.

Mae Lu would need even more mana to make her next attack stronger than the last since the evil bearer would be tougher.

Marveling as the black smoke reformed the lumbering evil bearer, Kariah-Belle took note of the four extra arms, two on its side and two on the back.

A black sword formed in its hand. When it fully reformed, it let out a loud screech that made Kariah want to wet her under-suit. Instead, she grinned through her fear and rubbed under her nose.

"There's that itch again," Akio said, eyeing the monster.

Kariah-Belle chuckled nervously. "Showtime, boys and girls."

The moment the monster completely reformed, it attacked Lax and Jet. The two young men moved, and the two young women sprinted at the monster. Kariah-Belle's blade began to emit sparks before currents of lightning danced around it. She could feel a large portion of her life force leave her as the lightning intensified. Being born into the Nadire branch gave Kariah-Bella a natural affinity for lightning craft.

Not only could she effectively use a high-level lightning-based skill, but the longer the fight went on, the more her fighting prowess grew. Which meant she would slowly become faster and stronger.

"Hey, ugly!" she called to the evil bearer, succeeding in getting its attention.

She leaped at the creature with a battle cry, but it moved quickly and used its sword to swat Kariah out of the sky.

"Lightning fang!" she shouted while her sword sliced through the air. Her blade released an arc of lightning and cut through the evil bearer's sword before damaging the monster's left shoulder. The armor-like skin was tougher now, so the attack failed to completely cut through its shoulder. The evil bearer reached with its good arm to grab her from the sky.

Akio flipped over her, preparing for a follow-up attack. However, the monster instantly protected its face and punched into Kariah's guard. She could feel the increase in strength. The attack sent her bouncing against the concrete and grassy ground. Pieces of her sky-blue armor tore off. She was able to recover after breaking through a tree.

Enough time passed for her to increase her mana hull to its full state, but a few more hits like that, and she'd have to wait a whole three minutes.

Akio leaped in time to escape a creature's striking arm and clobbered it in the face with her emerald-scaled fist. A green explosion of mana ignited upon contact.

The monster stumbled back into a building and used its rear arms to grab Akio out of the sky. She screamed as it squeezed her with both hands from its back.

Kariah-Belle dashed at the evil bearer. Jet and Lax joined her as they tried to free Akio.

They were making little progress.

The emerald-haired young woman was terrified. Kariah-Belle could feel it through the link.

Kariah-Belle started to panic but heard Akio in the link.

Keep calm, Riah.

Kariah-Belle took a deep breath before forming mana around her sword. She could feel the warmth from the mana around her blade before she began shaping it.

Her fingers tingled, and a second later, lightning surrounded her blade.

She fought the rising panic in her as Akio's screams grew louder.

Kariah scaled buildings and ran along large branches intertwined with them until she was above the beast.

Then she dropped.

The creature glanced up at her and lunged, but Jet fought back with his mana saber to deflect its hands. With Lax-Rim's help, Jet was able to create an opening for her.

The young woman yelled as she threw an arc of lightning stronger than the last, which slashed right through the arms of the evil bearer, freeing Akio.

Sweat beaded Kariah's forehead as a massive chunk of life force left her. Lax caught her just as the creature tried to whack her with a backhand. The two landed some ways away and started running as the monster chased behind.

"Are you good?" Lax asked.

"Yeah. Just need to catch my breath." Kariah held high amounts of life force, but using lightning fang twice in under two minutes was very draining.

Okay. I'm good to go.

Lax nodded and the two split up.

Only one more Lightning fang. Gotta make it count.

Kariah-Belle knew it wanted to get rid of her lightning attack. While the technique wasn't complete and couldn't damage its core, it could drastically injure the hid. She knew evil bearers adapted and planned to use that to her advantage.

The creature was on her feet as she bolted over beat-up hover cars and protruding branches, swerved around trees, and ran along the sides of buildings. Lax-Rim and Akio were working to slow the creature down. They were just barely succeeding but Kariah-Belle managed to gain some distance.

"Look out!" Lax-Rim hollered.

Kariah-Belle squinted and noticed something blocking the sun. She jumped forward just as the evil bearer's broken, large sword impaled itself in the ground behind her. Dust kicked up from the impact as she sailed into a nearby building with a missing roof.

She continued to run with all her might until she propelled herself into the air once more, using all the strength her mana hull would grant her.

Latching onto the side of a windowsill, she and searched for the creature. She hung high from the building as the monster sprinted towards her at a speed that should be impossible for its size.

Holy crap that thing is fast, she thought as she fought against anxiety. Sweat trickled down her forehead, and she fought the urge to wipe the liquid away in order to make sure she didnt miss the creatures movements.

No way in hell am I getting slammed through another wall, the young woman thought to herself.

Go get 'em, Ms. Nadire, Professor Mar-gin said via Nurolink. Pride was evident in his voice.

The evil bearer got within striking range and held up its sword to attack. Kariah exhaled when she saw Akio and Lax-Rim behind the monster. They both attacked the evil bearer midair from what would've been a blind spot if not for the two large pitch-black arms that sprouted from its back. One arm raised an arm to meet Lax's exploding fire fist. The other arm collided with Akio's glowing scale-plated fist.

Green and fiery explosions ignited upon impact.

From her spot on the wall, Kariah-Belle could see the frustration on Lax's face. Both of her friends were repelled back. The two had used their strongest attacks but couldn't do any real damage.

Still, they did their job. With the two arms distracted, Jet whistled to get Kariah-Belle's attention and deflected the sword that was slicing through the air.

The monster raised its free hand to strike, but it was too late.

Kariah-Belle launched herself from her spot on the window and was already in the evil bearer's face. Her sword crackled with lightning. Currents began to flow through the blue aura that engulfed her sword. She roared, and a picture of her mother and father flashed in her mind.

"Lightning Fang!!!" The mana engulfing the blade was now replaced by currents of lightning. She raised her sword, slashing downwards through the creature's head, sloppily cutting it in half. The right side of its head slithered away.

Mae! everyone shouted in the Nurolink.

Kariah-Belle had achieved the highest mana output she'd ever mustered.

Electricity coursed around her as she plummeted to the ground. She couldn't move her body or keep her mana hull from disappearing.

Craaaaap. I'm gonna dieeee.

"I've got you." Akio caught Kariah-Belle in the air, landing on a section of the building.

They both turned in time to see a giant drill made of wind smash through the building Kariah-Belle had been previously hanging from.

"Wind lance!" Mae Lu shouted as she fell towards the evil bearer.

The lance burst through the monster's torso and kept going, destroying the core for a second time. The building behind it stood no chance.

Mae Lu fell from the sky. Her mana hull shattered but Lax-Rim was there to break her fall. She landed on him, and he collapsed under the weight. Their mana hull shattered as the two of them panted with exhaustion.