EPISODE 324; THE RUPTURING! KNOWLEDGEABLE HOUSE OF THE WHITE LIGER! UNSEALING THE LIMITERS OF THE ETERNAL TITAN TEMPUS ROMA! THE SECOND BARRIER! INTEGRATING THE ZODIAC SYSTEMS INTO THE ETERNAL TITAN TEMPUS ROMA! THE CELESTIAL SKILL TREE PART IV: ACCLIMATIZING TO THE ELEMENTS! THE HUMAN BODY! HOST TO THE ELEMENTS! THE LUNGS! HOST TO WIND! TEMPUS ROMA MODE RAPTOR!
Mitsuki(Selene) now stood within the Crucible Of Wind with Tempus Roma.
"It's time for you to start acclimatizing to the Element Of Wind. TEMPUS ROMA MODE RAPTOR! ACTIVATE!" Tempus Roma called as Feathery Wings materialized behind her.
She took to the air and inhaled deeply. A gentle Wind began to blow within the Crucible Of Wind. Tempus Roma suddenly exhaled sharply and fierce Blades Of Wind began to rain down on Mitsuki from all directions.
Mitsuki felt her Gut tighten.
"She's not masking her presence this time so my Zone Perception should work!" Mitsuki thought to herself as she activated her Zone Perception.
She could sense the trajectory of the Blades Of Wind and evaded them swiftly.
"Standing in the same spot would be dangerous for me since Tempus Roma has Aerial Advantage. Her range is far wider than mine" Mitsuki said and took to her heels while monitoring the Blades Of Wind raining down on her from above.
"Her attacks are quite similar to Concordia's. Fortunately, Concordia and I have spent quite some time training together and working as a team during Dream Knight Field Missions. I am quite familiar with this pattern of attack thanks to Concordia" Mitsuki thought to herself.
"I should watch my energy consumption. Instead of simply running as a means to evade the attacks, I need to move while minimizing the energy I expend" Mitsuki thought and slowed her breathing down.
This minimized her energy consumption and maximized her stamina. She slowed down her speed and used her Zone Perception to study the Projected Trajectory Of Tempus Roma's Blades Of Wind. She only maximized her speed at the moment of evasion.
Tempus Roma smiled as she watched Mitsuki.
"You are quite a natural at utilizing the Element Of Wind as a Sense and as a Source Of Energy. Your time spent with Concordia was definitely not wasted however…" Tempus Roma frowned and calculated the minimum distance she could maintain each Blade Of Wind within range of the others without causing the Blades to interfere with the Paths of One another.
This minimized the time between the impact of the Blades without causing the Blades to strike simultaneously forcing Mitsuki to evade more rapidly and giving her little time to catch her breath.
"She's trying to wear down my stamina!" Mitsuki realized.
Mitsuki unfortunately had not yet realized the true devastating potential of Tempus Roma's attacks. Tempus Roma's attacks were not only forcing Mitsuki to expend energy more quickly but also baiting her into predictability.
"When one has little time to think of their next move, one begins to rely on instinct and instinct naturally leads one to take the actions that require the least risk. All I need to do is predict the actions within your range of options that require the least risk and I can anticipate your movements. You need to pay more attention Mitsuki" Tempus Roma thought to herself.
Mitsuki's Zone Perception was beginning to reveal to her the grid pattern Tempus Roma's attacks were weaving around her. Her attacks were like a Cage made of Blades Of Wind with little room to manoeuvre.
"She's trying to Cage me in" Mitsuki realized and took in a deep breath in an attempt to revitalize herself.
As she took her next breath, Tempus Roma's words flowed into her mind.
"When one has little time to think of their next move, one begins to rely on instinct and instinct naturally leads one to take the actions that require the least risk. All I need to do is predict the actions within your range of options that require the least risk and I can anticipate your movements. You need to pay more attention Mitsuki".
Mitsuki's eyes widened in realization.
"How am I perceiving Tempus Roma's thoughts?" Mitsuki thought and activated her sense of Intuition.
She could see clearly now that her lungs were glowing with a brilliant green light and so were Tempus Roma's. Their breaths appeared to be in sync. Mitsuki also noticed that the breath in Tempus Roma's lungs were what powered her Wings and the Blades Of Wind attacking Mitsuki only did so whenever Tempus Roma exhaled.
"I've got to time this right" MItsuki thought about her next move.
Just as the next barrage of Wind Blades were about to strike she suddenly performed a one-eighty degree turn while inhaling deeply and simultaneously calculating the shortest possible path between herself and Tempus Roma. She exhaled sharply while simultaneously lunging into the air like an arrow fired from a bow. She had also armed herself with Wind to deflect the Blades Of Wind in her Path clearing a Path between herself and Tempus Roma. Tempus Roma evaded Mitsuki's lunge just as Mitsuki materialized Wings from her back and struggled to regain her balance in the air. She eventually managed to stabilize herself and glided through the air while analyzing Tempus Roma's movements.
"Well done! Though it appears this is your first time flying without the aid of Lunar Gravity" Tempus Roma said.
"If I did use Lunar Gravity, you would simply nullify it" Mitsuki said with a smirk.
"I would…it was a risky gamble to charge at me when you are not yet used to Aerial Flight" Tempus Roma said.
"Someone seemed to say something about the least risky move enforcing the Cage" Mitsuki said.
Tempus Roma laughed.
"So you noticed that our breaths were in sync or rather…momentarily managed to sync your breathing with mine allowing you to perceive my thoughts…but didn't it perhaps occur to you that I could do the same? There is a fine line between a fortuitous gamble and a reckless one. If you had been battling Enslavement, the Evil Soul once sealed by the Stone Of Wind, the most likely outcome would have been this…" Tempus Roma projected an image of Mitsuki lunging at Enslavement however the next scene showed Enslavement evading and just as Mitsuki's force carried her further than she had intended, Enslavement impaled her from behind with a Talon before she could regain her balance.
"You left too many openings with that last lunge attack however…the purpose of this Trial was to acclimatize you to the Element Of Wind within us. I'd say you've passed" Tempus Roma said. "TEMPUS ROMA MODE RAPTOR! DISENGAGE!" Tempus Roma descended to the Ground and dispelled her Wings.
Mitsuki descended and dispelled her Wings as well.