In a dimly lit training hall, littered with holograms displaying a young 037 fighting monsters, each one tracking her every move. At the center of the training hall, 037 clashed with holograms of monsters; she was struggling. The air hung thick with the smell of sweat, as Calistis clashed with the monsters.
After a long clash, 037 was thrown to the side by one of the holographic monsters; she landed on her backside with a thump. "End of simulation." A hollow robotic voice spoke.
As soon as 037 heard this, she hurriedly sprang to her feet, clutching her knight sword. "Wait, I can fight." However, her rebuttal was dismissed. A robot approached her with a towel on a circular tray, the towel bore the Hexagon emblem on it with a twist; it had a tail just like hers, etched through it's center. It was the Zyros crest. A symbol of their family and the legacy of their race
She grabbed the towel, wiping the sweat off her body. "Has Father returned?" She asked, her eyes anticipating.
The voice spoke. "Yes." Instantly, her eyes lit up with joy. She ran out of the hall through the palace's steel and brick corridors, and made it to her father's office. The head of the Zyros family.
Ever since her mother's untimely passing, her father had become extremely distant; throwing himself into work, rarely at home, and leaving Calistis to the care of robots. But today he was at home, and she was going to see him.
The door to the office was a large wooden double door, with the Zyros crest etched onto it. Using her tiny hands, 037 tried to push the door open but only managed to move it slightly. She stepped back, breathing heavily, when suddenly the doors were opened from the inside. By her father, the head of the Zyros family: Ashen Zyros.
He looked younger, his hair still white with some black. "Calistis, what are you doing here?" He spoke, voice filled with warmth and care.
Calistis looked at him, tearing up as she ran into his embrace. Tears streamed down her cheeks onto his white shirt. He held her tightly. "F-father, where were you, ever since mother died you've been gone." She cried tears raining from her eyes. "I really missed you, dad."
Ashen looked at her, his eyes filled with guilt. "I'm sorry." He said, putting her down, he knelt to her level, his hands patting her head. "Why are you crying, you're a Zyros; you shouldn't be crying."
He looked away, his eyes watering. 'It's my fault your mother died, you shouldn't cry.' He looked back at her, their eyes met.
His warmth began to fade.
That was the last day Calistis saw her father like that, from then on he barely came back home, barely looking at her, the times he did look at her his gaze was cold and empty. She blamed herself. 'If only I was strong.' She clenched her fist.
One day, he came back home one of his eyes gone she was 13 years old then, she rushed to him worried. But, he flinched at her touch, that changed something in her. She focused on her training trying to embody the pride of Zyros, after all that was all she had left of both her parents.
When she awakened her Zone, it was just like Ashen's, it enhanced her mind. A Mind Zone. she thought he'd be proud of her but he only looked at her with pity; for the scars that brought her there. She blamed herself. 'I'm too weak.' she thought. She trained harder than ever, her hands grew more calloused, her body scarred from mastering her swordsmanship, her mind scarring and healing from the use of the Zone
By mastering going in and out of the Zone, she ascended from the first Zone: Echo of the Zone, to the second Zone: Resonance of the Zone.
It took her 3 years to ascend, a feat of its own. In those 3 years, her mental scars and physical calluses grew, along with her yearning of her father's approval, of his warmth. But those only grew more distant, taking along with it the warmth of the palace
She didn't even get to see her father's reaction to this impressive feat. He was locked away in his office again. In front of it a 16 year old Calistis stood, fist clenched, her shoulders sunken. 'Definitely, if I gain my Zone ability, getting to level three.' She looked up with hope in her eyes. 'Father will be proud.'
She turned around walking, her head held up high. Her next step, joining Hexagon, in 2 years and becoming the best. But the rankings placed a hurdle in her path.
Her name flashed on the hologram, Calistis Zyros. Next to it her headshot.
Her name was there, clear as day, but she still couldn't believe it. She clenched her fist, knuckles turning white, trickles of crimson red blood flowing down. 'How is that possible, I killed all the monsters as quickly as I could. How am I not first place.' She thought, hands trembling.
From across the hall Talen watched Calistis's reaction, he turned around his gaze returning to the hologram. 'What an ego.' He then turned around to 007.
007's eyes were basically sparkling as he watched the hologram, his fist clenched, arms half raised, he leaned forward, a huge grin on his face all teeth on display, he wasn't just happy he was excited, he stood out amid the tension. 'Talk about wearing your heart on your sleeve.' Talen chuckled, he found 007 very amusing.
The hall erupted into murmurs; after all, the second-place reveal left one candidate for first place. Calistis's reveal was 007's spotlight.
Talen returned his gaze to the hologram, he already knew who first place was, 007.
007's name and headshot were displayed on the hologram, Valen Dain. 'I expected more of a reaction.' Talen thought, looking around the hall; there wasn't much of a reaction to the revelation; everyone had already reacted. 'The fun part begins.' An empty smile appeared on Talen's face, he clutched his mother's scarf, cracking his neck.
The hologram flickered, dissipating. Garvin turned back, looking at the candidates, the hall was silent again. "As some of you may already know, the second trial is a sparring match." He turned around, clicking the button again, another hologram flickering to life. The hologram was a table with 10 lines. "These are the matchings."
Talen's eyes quickly travelled down the table, studying each line. 'Today is full of surprises huh.' According to the holographic table, Calistis was fighting against Lucas Vanich. 'Already know the result of that.' Talen's eyes traveled further down the table searching. 'Found you.' Talen found his name, he was matched with a female candidate named Alice Grey. Satisfied, Talen continued scanning the table. He found that Valen and Kestis were similarly facing off against candidates he deemed killable; that however, didn't mean they weren't skilled.
As the candidates looked at the matchings most of them sighed with relief, few groaned in disappointment, and some even fell on their knees in despair. 'Sheesh, have some confidence in yourself, will you.' Talen thought.
Garvin turned back around, the hall fell back into silence. He called the names of the first pair. Both went up the 3 steps onto the sparring ground, they stood opposite each other, with Garvin to the side.
"The rules of the sparring match are simple." He said, looking at both boys. "Firstly, you are to use the same weapons used in your first trial. Secondly, no killing. Thirdly, you must fight in the Zone." He looked out at the other candidates, his eyes on Talen, Calistis, and Valen. "Except for the top 3 ranked candidates, your Zone enhancements are too potent. You will fight without them, let's see your raw techniques."
Talen tightened his grip around the scarf, his eyes narrowing on Garvin. 'A blessing in disguise.' He thought, the third rule ruined Talen's entire plan; before, he planned to go into the Zone and defeat his opponent as quickly as possible while learning from them. But now without the Zone, it was going to be difficult not impossible; however, the rule wasn't all bad it had its perks.
Calistis didn't have much of a reaction, she was still occupied with her ranking. Valen, on the other hand had a reaction, a great one; he almost jumped up in excitement, barely containing himself. Kestis also didn't react.
Back on the stage, both boys picked up their weapons from the elevated platform. Garvin glanced at both of them, taking a step back. He said. "The match will last 5 minutes. Fight."
As soon as the words left his mouth, both boys went into the Zone. The boy on the right's eyes changed; the white turned black, iris and pupil turned red. The other boys eyes went through a similar change only his turned blue rather than red. Both of them in the Zone, they clashed.
Talen watched the fight intently in the hope of learning a technique or two, but he couldn't. Not because it was difficult, but because it was too easy. He deemed it unworthy.
He could see it all: the positioning and the strikes, he could even see their intent was, it was all too obvious. However, he did learn something from the fight.
The boy with red eyes moved much faster and hit harder than the boy with blue eyes. The boy with blue eyes moved and hit harder than someone without a Zone, but still he seemed weaker than the boy with red eyes. However, he moved as if predicting his opponent's next move.
Remembering Doctor Evan's rants on the different types of Zones, Talen concluded that the one with red eyes had a Body Zone, while the one with blue eyes had a Mind Zone.
Their fight ended in a draw resulting in both of them being disqualified. 'Harsh.'
Talen watched the other matches, and although he didn't learn a single worthy technique, the fights cemented his theory. 'Red eyes mean a Body Zone blue eyes a Mind Zone, the more intense the colour, the stronger the enhancement.' That realisation clarified a lot of things regarding his purple Zone eyes, and dual enhancement.
Finally, after 5 fights with three ending in a draw, it was Calistis's match. By now the metallic smell of blood was already lingering in the hall. Killing might have been disallowed, but they were still fighting with sharpened weapons.
Thanks to the 3rd rule Talen can now truly witness and study her techniques.
She walked up the 3 steps and stood opposite her opponent. She grabbed her knight sword, clenching it so hard it dug deep into the fresh wound on her palm. 'The pride of the Zyros shall never be sullied.' She glared at Luke, eyes burning with rage.