Third Pillar—-
"Rei Hayama, correct?"
"That's correct!"
"I see. Do you mind putting on shoes?"
"I prefer this, thank you."
Inside the third pillar, Soren and Rei were sitting in a quiet moonlit enclosure, with swamps and lakes surrounding them. Rei was in a white dress, barefoot.
"Tsk. You really are a strange one. But you have all three of your skills unlocked, and are at a high level. Tell me, what type of Mahōshi are you?"
Rei held out her hand, forming a moonlight shield around her. "Lunar! Or, Moon. Whatever you call it."
Soren got up and paced around her, studying her. "Perfect for a tank. Though your frame is slim and leaves much to be desired…"
He knocked on her shield, which repelled him. "Your abilities are truly impressive. But as a Kaitansha, you have a role to play. Can you endure?"
Rei stood up. "Whatever you got, I can handle it! Are we doing some defense trial?"
"Oh, no. No, no, no. This will be no mere trial."
Soren clapped his hands, and three young kids, two boys and a girl, emerged from behind. Rei stared at them, a bit confused. "Hmm? Who are they?"
"They shall be your students. A tank's role is to shield and protect their team. Of course, you can also deal damage, but you'll have them for that."
"Who am I shielding them from?"
"Their older sister."
Suddenly, the ground beneath Rei began to shake, and from the earth rose Serika, giving Rei and her father a polite bow.
"I await your command, Father."
Soren stepped back. "Push the girl to her limits. Do not worry if you harm your younger siblings. They know the risks."
Once he disappeared, a UI popped up.
〈Goal: Shield the Children.〉
〈Objective *1*: Keep Shield Active for 15 minutes without breaking.〉
〈Objective *2*: Reach the Target Zone 3 times.〉
〈Objective *3*: Use a Reaction Attack *7* Times.〉
"Reaction Attack? That's a new one!"
"Elements can react to each other in different ways," Soren remarked. "Do not just shield during the course of this battle, figure out what reactions you can channel to damage your foe."
Once his voice cut out, Serika stomped the ground beneath her.
"Jugen-Mahōshi: Jikudaki no Hōfuku!"
Earth spikes surrounded Rei, and she quickly put her shield up, surrounding the kids.
"Jugen-Mahōshi: Gekkō no Gokō!"
The earth spikes bounced off, turning into a pale white before exploding to Rei's shock.
〈Reaction Triggered: Earthly Moonlight.〉
"There's one," Soren remarked. "Now figure out how to weaponize it, and soon. My daughter is quite capable, if you haven't already found out."
Serika dragged her foot across the ground, sending a wave of earth spikes at Rei's shield. One of the boys quickly ran forward, forming a finger gun with his hand.
"Jugen-Metsusha: Sogeki Bakudan!"
Almost like a bullet, a vector tore through and split the crystals in half, making Serika jump back.
"That move was amazing!" Rei complimented. "What was that?"
The boy put his fists on his hips, beaming proudly. "My signature skill! I can shoot things with my finger and make them disappear!"
"Hehe, that's no joke! What's your name?"
"I'm Shizuru! This is my brother, Seiran, and my sister, Sarina!"
They waved to her, and she waved back. "Nice to meet you all! I'm Rei!"
Sarina opened her mouth to respond, but she immediately pointed behind Rei. "Miss Rei, look out!"
Serika got into a low stance, bits of earth rising into her palms as she began to form a shape from it.
"Jugen-Mahōshi: Bōkyaku no Sekisō!"
A large stone pike formed in her hand, stabbing Rei's shield and causing it to crack.
"Oh no!" Rei thought. "She's breaking through!"
Shizuru got into position. "I can handle this, Ms. Rei!"
He shot his finger gun, but Serika quickly pulled back her pillar and swung it into the side of Rei's shield. The raw force caused everyone inside to fall.
"Gah!"
Rei got up, forming a moon crest. "Jugen-Mahōshi: Mujin no Yoru no Mikazuki!"
With a swipe of her arm, her blade clashed with Serika's pike, and as soon as they made contact, the pike's composition shifted to white light, and exploded.
〈Reaction Triggered.〉
Rei began to sweat as the explosion further damaged her shield. "Need…to…repair it…"
She threw up her hands.
"Jugen-Mahōshi: Tsuki no Megenka!"
With a blast of moonlight, her shield started repairing, and she dropped to one knee, her vision beginning to grow dim.
"Here, let me help, Miss Rei!"
Sarina put a hand on Rei's back. "Jugen-Kaiseisha: Enerugī Tensō!"
Both girls began to glow, and a golden energy dispersed from Sarina's body into Rei's, causing one of Sarina's hairs to turn gray.
"There! I used some of my life energy to give you more stamina, Miss!"
Rei got up, a surge of power running through her. "Whoa! But hey, isn't that dangerous?"
"Not if I do it sparingly! I'm young and tough, so I can take the backlash!"
"Okay! Looks like I'd better finish this fast, so you won't have to!"
Rei fired another moon blast into her shield, and it fully repaired itself just as Serika formed a dozen pikes above her head.
"Oh…" Rei realized. "That's not good."
In a quick motion, she launched six pikes, which exploded on impact and cracked the shield heavily.
Seiran tugged at the base of Rei's dress. "Miss Rei—can I do something?"
Rei patted his back. "Sure? What's up?"
"My skill! I can—use it against my sister, but—-you'll need to open up a part of the shield…"
Rei looked back at Serika, who prepared another pike. "Okay! Be careful! I can't hold it for long!"
Using a moon beam, Rei opened a gap in her shield, and Seiran slammed the ground with both hands. "Jugen-Tōshi: Burēdo Minigan!"
A mini-gun with blades attached to the end rose from the ground, and Seiran picked it up, firing blades from the barrels at his sister.
"A gun that shoots metal?" Rei gasped. "Seiran, that's incredible!"
"Y—you really think so?"
"Yeah! Teach me!"
"I don't think I can…"
Serika avoided the blades, but one grazed her shoulder, and she lifted her arms, mounds of earth rising from the ground.
"Jugen-Mahōshi: Shugo no Sekiban!"
Two large stone slates formed out of the mounds, blocking the blades and causing them to hit Rei's shield, which cracked further.
"Ahh!" Seiran realized. "I—I'm sorry, Ms. Rei! I forgot she had that skill!"
"It's okay! Just keep her busy while I repair this shield—!"
〈Target Zone: Active.〉
A growing gray circle appeared in the distance, with a UI arrow pointing over it.
〈60s to reach *Target Zone.*〉
"Okay, new plan! To the zone we go!"
Using a powerful blast of moonlight, Rei began to repair her shield, slowly advancing toward the gray circle. As she and the kids got closer, Serika threw a pike in front of them, cutting off their path.
"Did you think it would be as easy as walking up to it?" Soren mocked. "You're a high level. If anyone should know that dungeons aren't easy, it should be you."
Serika threw a pike into Rei's shield, forcing her and the kids back. Rei used her moonlight to open a section of her shield.
"Kids, you play here! I'll be right back!"
She jumped out of the shield, summoning a moon crest, but Serika just stared at her.
"Hmm?" Rei questioned. "Aren't you gonna fight?"
Serika pointed to a UI above Rei's head.
〈Warning: *Return to Shield in 10s!*〉
Rei panicked and jumped back into her shield. "Hey? Why? I wanna fight!"
"You cannot," Soren explained. "The Tank is the shield. If you wish to help, you must do it from inside your bubble."
Rei looked at the Zone time. "30 seconds…okay! Kids, could you mind distracting her while I get us to the safe spot?"
They nodded. "Yes, Miss!"
Rei quickly trekked toward the Target Zone while Sarina placed a hand on the backs of both her brothers.
"Sis, don't push yourself!" Shizuru insisted.
"You heard Miss Rei!" Sarina argued back. "She said distract her, so I'm giving this all I got!"
"Alright, but don't you dare go overboard!"
Once Rei opened another gap in her shield, both boys began launching rapid attacks at Serika, but she formed a large stone slate, preparing to crush them.
"I apologize, siblings," she murmured.
"Save it for another day!" Shizuru yelled. "Jugen-Metsusha: Sogeki Bakudan!"
Pointing his finger gun, a hole exploded in the center of Serika's slate, causing the entire thing to crumble.
"You've got the path, Ms. Rei!"
Rei quickly took advantage and guided the group into the zone.
〈Time Remaining: 0:05〉
〈Zone: 1/3.〉
"We did it!" Rei cheered. "Two more to go!"
Another circle appeared on the opposite side of the room, just as Serika formed a combination of stone slates and pikes.
"She—she's using multiple skills at once!" Seiran worried. "How are we gonna get across?"
Serika casually flung a pike at them, but Rei extended her arm, forming a moon crest that blocked it back at her.
〈Reaction Triggered.〉
The pike turned into moonlight as Serika quickly formed a slate to block, and it exploded against her slate, causing a surge of moonlight to rain down on her, knocking her to the ground.
〈Reaction Attack: 1/7〉
Rei looked at her hand. "I did that?"
The kids stared, mouths agape.
"You landed a clean hit!" Shizuru cheered.
"I wanna do that too!" Sarina demanded.
Seiran pointed to his fallen sister. "Careful—-she's about to attack again!"
Still on the ground, Serika slammed her heel into the dust, causing earth spikes to storm toward the group.
"Leave it to me!" Shizuru volunteered.
He formed his finger gun, blasting holes in each one before they could strike, dulling their impact. Rei moved the shield around Serika, heading for the Zone.
"Not so fast," Serika warned.
She formed an extra-large pike in between her hands, just as Rei used a ton of strength to fire a moonbeam at her, temporarily stunning her and turning her weapon into moonlight.
〈Reaction Attack: 2/7〉
"She's eating those up!" Rei noticed. "Better hurry!"
Before Serika could recover, Rei hurried to the next zone.
〈Zone: 2/3.〉
"Not bad," Soren commended. "I should have expected as much. But be warned, the ending will not be as straightforward as you think."
〈Target Zone: Active〉
Rei looked around for the circle, but it was nowhere to be found. "Mmm? Is it not in the room? Ooh, are we going somewhere else?"
Sarina tapped Rei. "Miss Rei, I found the zone!"
"Ooh, where?"
Sarina pointed at Serika, who had a small glowing circle at her feet.
"That's…gonna be a problem," Shizuru stated.
"H—her? But we've been trying to avoid her!"
"Man up, children," Soren demanded. "Or crumble right here."
Rei pumped her fist. "We got this, guys! One minute, we need to stun her long enough to reach that zone!"
"Good luck with that," Serika interrupted, forming a stone slate and standing atop it.
Pikes rained down, nearly striking Rei's shield. The kids all looked at her, worried.
"What do we do?" Shizuru asked.
〈Time Remaining: 0:45〉
"Okay, I need you guys to trust me! Can you do that?"
They all nodded.
"Seiran, you're the best damage dealer here. You exit the shield, and keep her busy on the left! Shizuru, you stay on the right, with me! Sarina, I could use a boost, if you're still up for it?"
Sarina nodded. "Anytime!"
"W—what if she hits me?" Seiran worried.
Rei held up a hand, sparkling with moonlight. "She won't. I'll give you some help! Your blades are metal, right?"
"Yeah?"
"Great! Then they should react to my element! After all, there's tons of Metal-Mahōshi out there!"
"Okay…I'll…I'll try!"
Rei opened a gap in her shield, just as Seiran rolled out, aiming his gun at his sister.
"S—sorry, Sis!"
Rei and the others flanked from the other side, just as Seiran began firing. Serika blocked all of his blades with a pike, but she quickly formed a slate when Shizuru aimed his finger gun at her.
"Boom, bang!"
The slate broke apart, and Seiran resumed firing.
"Jugen-Mahōshi: Tsuki no Megenka!"
Rei fired a beam straight at the path of Seiran's blades, and the moonlight began to reflect off the surfaces, heading toward Serika.
〈Reaction Triggered: Reflection of the Moon.〉
〈Reaction Attack: 3/7〉
The moonlight struck Serika on the shoulder, burning it. "Hot, and cold? But how?"
Taking advantage, Sarina pressed her hand to Shizuru's back. "Hit the slate below her!"
"Bang!"
With a motion of his finger, the slate below Serika cracked, and as she formed more pikes to defend herself, Rei flung another moon beam at Seiran.
"Shoot, Seiran!"
Seiran pulled the trigger, blades crossing into the beam and reflecting off the walls, striking Serika's pikes.
〈Reaction Attack: 4/7〉
〈Reaction Attack: 5/7〉
〈Reaction Attack: 6/7〉
"Okay," Rei thought. "Just need to strike hard enough to stun her."
She called out to Seiran. "I'll need you to rapid fire, okay? I'm sending something your way!"
"G—got it!"
As Shizuru kept destroying Serika's pikes, Rei threw her hand out.
"Jugen-Mahōshi: Mujin no Yoru no Mikazuki!"
A large moon crest flew toward Seiran, and he steadied his aim and unleashed a barrage of blades.
"T—take this, Sister!"
The blades hit the moon crest, and it reflected a large shockwave of moonlight off its surface, stunning the entire room.
〈Reaction Attack: *Complete.*〉
Rei slowly got up, repairing her shield, as she crossed over to the fallen Serika.
〈Time Remaining: 0:04〉
Sarina reached out and touched Rei's leg, rejuvenating her, at the cost of her hair turning more gray. "Go…Miss…"
The shield continued moving, and just as the time ran out, Rei got it into the zone.
〈Zone: Completed.〉
〈Shield: *Completed.〉
Rei collapsed on her back, smiling. "I did it…Mr. Omariro's gonna be so proud…!"
As she lay her head back, she could faintly hear a whisper in her ear.
〈Good Work…Ms. Reiss.〉
———