Crystal: The Tyranny of Demolus

Siezegor Ants

Zohaifa came back in training after two days of break. His soreness was gone. He popped his neck bone and went out with Marium with much enthusiasm. The morning and noon training remained the same as it used to be. Just like all other days, they were sparring with Lazuli in the evening.

Zohaifa was more active than he used to be. He was harder than ever. One or two punches were not enough to exhaust him anymore. He came back, rejuvenating himself after each punch. But that's not the end of the show.

In the middle of the sparring, Zohaifa planted his feet on the ground and prepared himself for a surprise. Lazuli could sense that he was focusing his aura on a move.

"Did Zohiafa learn a new lightning move? But I already told him that using lightning is forbidden in the sparring match. This was supposed to be a martial art sparring," thought Lazuli.

Lazuli stood face to face with Zohaifa, curious about what Zohaifa has to show.

Then all of a sudden, a plasma blast went right beside Lazuli's face. She dodged it. When she looked back at Zohaifa, he found him smiling. Has this become his habit? To surprise and smile?

"Well done. You have learned it way faster than I expected you to. We will move to another phase of the training," said  Lazuli.

"So can we learn the 'Yellow Splash' now?" asked Zohaifa in excitement.

"Don't be so hasty. You have just learned to create Plasma. Now you need to know how to control it. I will remind you once again that it requires intense control over Plasma to create 'Yellow Splash', where two states of matter mixes," said Lazuli.

"Right. So, what now?" asked Zohaifa.

"Enjoy the rest of the day, you two earned it. I will inform you later," said Lazuli.

Zohiafa and Marium had fun playing video games for the entire day. Zohiafa taught Marium pillow fight, which was the game they chose for the night. The next day, early in the morning, Lazuli woke Zohaifa and Marium up.

"I don't want to go to school. I haven't done my homework," mumbled Zohaifa.

"Wake up!" Lazuli shouted, "Stop bringing memories of the Earth here!"

Zohaifa jumped up with a shock. He looked here and there and gradually got aware of his position.

"Darn, I miss my home now," said Zohaifa to himself.

Then Lazuli took two gigantic bags, which were already packed. She handed the smaller one over to Zohaifa and the larger one to Marium.

"That's a surprise. She usually makes me do harder jobs," Zohaifa thought to himself.

"Let's go," said Lazuli.

"We are going on a journey again! It was such fun traveling by foot with Lapis. I wonder how it will be this time," thought Zohaifa.

But lazuli took a car. It was a jeep to be exact, which was used by them to travel through the forest. The wild wind messed up their hair. But they enjoyed it rather than closing the windows. Their journey gradually led to a rocky land and ended up before a small rocky hill.

"This is your training ground," said Lazuli.

"You bought us all the way here to climb a mountain? You could have at least chose a bigger one," replied Zohiafa.

"No. Your training is crushing the hill. But the rule is, you can only use plasma blasts. I'll give a 1-month time limit, though you won't need that. You will get no support from me. I have to go back to Yellow city, got a lot of work there. I have also given you two some food supplies in the bags. Since it is an isolated place, be cautious about how much you are eating."

"Now I understand why she gave me the smaller bag," thought Zohaifa to himself.

Few days passed by since Zohaifa and Marium started destroying the hill. They felt a little guilty that they had to destroy the habitats of the animals. But things are going fine for now. All the animals left the hill when they sensed the explosions at the beginning of the training. The hill was close to being destroyed.

Chew Chappow Chappow.

Plasma blasts are being shot by Zohaifa and Marium. A little bit of sweat moistened their skin. That is when some ants the size of an average person's feet started appearing. Zohaifa looked at these gigantic ants and said, "Where are they coming from?"

"Look it is coming from a hole in the hill," pointed Marium. Then she took the finger and started biting on the nails moving on deep thinking, "Wait a minute. Red foot-sized ants, create holes deep in the hill... They are the Siezegor Ants! But I thought they were extinct from this forest."

"So, what are these Siezegor ants?"

"They were a species of ant thought to be extinct from this forest. They have a really venomous paralyzing bite. They are strong due to their size. So, they form their base inside a hill instead of an ant pit."

 "Okay. That was interesting. Now, let us continue training."

 But then Marium's lips vibrated as she was almost about to cry.

 "What now?"

 "I don't want them to be destroyed."

 "How are we going to continue the training then?"

 She looked at Zohaifa's face with sparkly eyes vibrating slowly and harmoniously.

Zohaifa sighed, "Okay, we will clear them out first."

 "Yay!"

 Zohaifa tried poking the holes with a stick, but the ants got mad and attempted to bite him. He tried provoking the ants and running away to lead in another direction, but the ants didn't understand his provocations. In short, from morning to mid-noon, they were busy with the ants. But then the clouds covered the sky and the wind started to blow fast.

 "A storm is coming!" exclaimed Zohaifa.

 "Quick! We need to find a cave," proclaimed Marium.

 The storm actually gathered an opportunity for them to rest. They were down and out working the whole day. They sat inside a cave faintly illuminated. A few moments of silence prevailed.