Pisces: Tai Chi Fist Style (Part 1)

The nineteenth chapter of the Crusaders of the Constellations Novel, it marks the end of the Zodiac arc. Ranald trains under the last guide and faces some internal turmoil.

## Story

The twelfth month has arrived, and it is at this point in time that everyone is excited. For Christmas will be coming soon, as well as the New Year. Each month, King Athos would give all AWCU students a day off on every Earth holiday, aside from the week-long semester breaks. Well, except two folks...

In Ranald's case, his holidays are spent half training with his guides, and half having fun with his new friends. After Aqua, he has been training under the last martial art under a guide so chill that he could make Phrixus envious...none other than Ichiguen, who was regarded by his classmates of AWCU as 'the laziest'. But like with his first guide, appearances deceive. Phrixus is gentle and mellow, but he can be quite aggressive when provoked. Ichiguen many seem lazy on the outside, but he is in fact, a hidden genius, and just as gentle as Phrixus. His true form is a merman with ebony black hair and a deep blue fishtail, with the Pisces constellation symbol on it. In his land-form, the symbol appears on his left leg. He met Ranald when the latter was swimming in the Hall of Neptune's swimming pool, which was recently built nearby. He told him that he will prepare him for what is to come by teaching him Tai Chi.

"Let yourself flow like the ocean currents. If hard force meets hard force, both will take damage. Flow with it, and meet it in softness while maintaining physical contact, until the incoming moves become exhausted or," Ichiguen said, "It can be safely redirected back to the attacker." "It's just like what Aqua taught me last month," Ranald said. "Exactly, you just need to be patient and calm when mastering Tai Chi," the merman in the human form said.

He guided his pupil through the stances, and just like with Aqua, they would go swimming in the sea surrounding the island where AWCU is. On the floating island currently near the Realm of the Sun, the waters supporting the island where the dimensional university stands are held on it by gravity, so no swimmer would have to worry falling off the edge of the island. Sometimes, Ranald would invite his friends to swim with him and Ichiguen. Once, Bai Tu was invited to swim with his friends. But he was afraid of water. "What if I drown?" he asked nervously. "There is nothing to fear about the waters, as long as I get to swim with you and keep you safe. I will teach you the basics of swimming," Ranald assured him. The ocean around AWCU is teeming with sea life. Even Delmare befriended the dolphins swimming in it, and a fellow member of the Hall of Neptune, Wallfisch, managed to tame the great whales of Aether World's sea. The water fairy refused to admit it to her friends, but she has been harbouring a crush on the sailor ever since both of them set foot in the Hall of Neptune.

Sometimes, in the Hall of Neptune or the swimming pool near it, when all the residents were studying in the library or sparring at the Main Building's rooftop arena, Ranald would tell his last guide about feeling unprepared to face the Devourer of Worlds. Ichiguen assured him that they would face the monster together regardless of whether or not they have super-powers. "King Athos taught us that monsters such as the Devourer of Worlds have abilities that nullify the use of powers," Ranald said, "That's why he 's been preparing us for it." The merman agreed as he was bobbing in the Hall of Neptune's swimming pool. Usually, during the day, the two swimming pools are empty, but during the late afternoon, Poseidon would arrive to float the waterproof beds on them. As the merman emerged from the pool, he shifted into his human form and pointed out that they can practices Tai Chi together in their spare time. This continued throughout the twelfth month, until the end of it. Even after the Christmas Holiday, the only time when Ranald got to visit his family, he met up with his last guide to train hard. Ichiguen told his pupil that he had a gift to give him after the last month of the year. It paid off.

At the 29th day of the twelfth month, King Athos told them about the end-of-year rescue mission. This time, Malvor has summoned a giant fireball-spewing behemoth to cause trouble in Geri's home-world. "Looks like you'll have to give it all you've got, and use what you've learned from all twelve of us," Phrixus told his friends while stroking the head of Chrysomallos, whose golden wool has been growing back from when his owner shaved him two weeks ago. "All the best in the end-of-year mission!" Anbesa called out from among the crowd of students. Bai Tu, Kibahime and Delmare glanced at each other, and then at Mayari, who chose Orcus (The boy holding the flag of Pluto), Lancer, Orion, and Cepheus, while Ranald chose Ichiguen, Wallfisch, Roka, and Kibahime. Delmare wished her secret crush well on the mission, and when Wallfisch heard her, he said, "No worries. I have been survivin' all that."

The two groups went into a dimension portal leading to the dimension of all kinds of scary monsters.

When they emerged from the portal, they found themselves in a Victorian-style town. "It's cold in there..." Roka grumbled. "You have your black fire to warm yourselves," Wallfisch replied. The mayor, who was a grey-furred werewolf, led Mayari, her group-mates and Ranald's group to the town park, where there were charred buildings and several huge footprints. "If this keeps up, we would be drained of our gold, and the werebeasts in this town will die. And then, this accursed sorcerer and his giant pet would cause even more mayhem in the other cities," the mayor said. "You have nothing to worry about. Just as the sun rises after a long dark night to dispel the darkness, so we will dispel the threat of the sorcerer and his behemoth!" Ranald triumphantly spoke. At the word 'sun', some vampires who just happened to be in the town touring ran away. "Ummm...not everyone appreciates your little speech in here," Kibahime remarked. "Oh, well," her group leader said. The two groups went outside the town's gates, guarded by two statues of lions, to look out signs for Malvor's rampaging. Some group members went to split up to scout the terrain. An hour later, Roka in his true dragon form swooped down from the skies, and Kibahime in her nine-tailed fox form emerged from the nearby bushes. They went to report to Ranald that from the east, the sorcerer would come to attack. "Let's meet them head-on!" Ranald declared. "No way! We don't know how powerful Malvor has become. He could be working for the Devourer of Worlds, and the behemoth must be a gift to him! We must stay together to protect the town." Mayari cautioned. "Really, eh? This is my last dimensional mission, and I will prove myself in it, with powers or not!" he shouted back. The two argued after a while until Ichiguen yelled, "SILENCE!" Everyone looked at him. Even Roka and Kibahime turned into their human forms out of surprise. "We can't argue until the villain catches us. His Majesty wants us to work together, not rip ourselves apart. Anyway, I have an idea..." The merman in his human form said.

Ranald's group can meet Malvor and his pet head-on, to gauge their combined strength. In the event that they were defeated, then Mayari and her group can attack the monster when it advances. Ranald and his team-mates went to the east to fight the monster. Wallfisch sniffed the air, and said, "Smells like smoke in here, but no wildfire." "It must be the behemoth," Kibahime replied, turning into her true form. "Be prepared, or we will be monster lunch," she said. Suddenly, a loud roar bellowed in the forest. Malvor and his monster made their grand appearance, stomping on the ground. The behemoth the sorcerer rode has curved horns and hooves, shaggy orange fur, red eyes, and a canine nose. Following them were some ice goblins. Malvor boasted of his new powers and lobbed dark magic bolts from his staff. Ranald's team-mates attacked the behemoth from below, while he used the spear Aqua gave him to fight the sorcerer and dodge his bolts. The behemoth spat out fireballs from its mouth and the ice goblins attacked, but some of his team-mates dodged them. "Separate him from his pet, and it will be easier!" Ichiguen said as he used Tai Chi to redirect the fireballs back at the monster. One of them hit Malvor, staggering him. Ranald used his schoolbag to push the sorcerer away from the behemoth's back. Malvor used his magic to summon a cloud to fly on and shot energy balls at the golden-haired boy, who dodged them, though some grazed his ankles. The sorcerer's opponent placed the three heart-gems in his golden locket, and soon, Malvor was face-to-face with the Golden Griffin Warrior. "Now we fight on even ground," Ranald in his Ra form said, and both clashed together, darkness against flame. Training with Heike enabled Ra to use his sixth Crystallized Sword, "**The Claw-ossal**". His right arm turned into a sword that looked like a *guandao,*a Chinese polearm, and it grew to be as big as the wizard's staff. It can move like a crab claw, reminiscent of the crab-hammer Heike gave him. But even so in his alternate form, he knew if he moved around too much, he would be quickly tired, so he had to conserve as much energy as he has.

"Becoming lazy now?" Malvor asked as he readied a spell. He lobbed it at Ra, and he dodged it, just like Ichiguen taught him. He caught one of the sorcerer's energy orbs with his Claw-ossal, and threw it back at the villain. Malvor tried not to panic, and cast bolts of darkness and energy orbs, only for Ranald to use Tai Chi to send them back at him. The wizard then attempted to fight him in hand-to-hand combat, but while he managed to hit the Golden Griffin Warrior in the face a few times, mostly causing him to hiss like an angry house cat, the villain's punches got pushed away by either the Claw-ossal or Ranald's left clawed hand. "The Devourer of Worlds and the Boogie-man did not teach you everything, eh?" Ra quipped. Meanwhile, Wallfisch shot his harpoon at the behemoth's sides. Roka turned into his dragon form and breathed his dark-fire breath on the monster, while Kibahime fired fox-flames from her tails. Ichiguen then watched as the creature breathed a huge fireball at him. The young man took a deep breath and caught the fireball with his bare hands. The ice goblins, being weak to fire, ran away. Ichiguen then threw the fireball back at the behemoth, incinerating it. When the monster was burnt to ashes, the heroes cheered loudly. Malvor heard it and was distracted, so Ranald used it as an opportunity to turn back into his human form and headbutt him. The sorcerer got up and ran to where his pet used to be. He was shocked to see the burnt ground where his behemoth once stood. "How...how...how..how dare YOU!" he shouted angrily. He pointed at Ranald. "You are a strong and clever boy, but that's just about it. No powers, just a flash in the pan. Look around you," the sorcerer said to him. Ranald glanced at his friends and told the villain that they have been helping him all the while to cope with having no powers. "They have what you don't have, and you can only use a trinket to become your super-powered alternate self. And I know that you are quite full of pent-up negative thoughts about your bullies and friends, so because of that, one day, you will lose control and harm them just for having powers. All because when you were young, some Earth supers bullied you for being poor as dirt and for being better than them in academics and other things!" Malvor then teleported away in a purple flash, his laughter echoing through the air, and fading away in the wind.