"Ahh!" Marth was surprised at Tsubasa's actions as she pulled Marth onto solid ground from the vanishing bubble. Marth fell to his hands and knees, shaking from the experience.

"Now do you understand?" Tsubasa asked Marth.

The Place Card which had been contained within ceaced vibrating, falling back and forth like a benign piece of paper. Tsubasa placed her left hand above her card pouch and flicked her thumb downwards, locking the clasp.

Marth took a few deep breaths before responding.

"Do you think you could have briefed me before you pulled that stunt?" The shake of Marth's hands lessoned as he got the feeling off his chest.

"As an Esper, you have to be ready for the unexpected. Graceful reaction is an important skill." Tsubasa coached her student.

Marth looked down the face of the cliff they had just ascended. The bubble shield Place Card was halfway to the ground, tumbling as it fell like a maple tree's leaf in autumn.

"Sensei, this doesn't make any sense." Marth shifted his weight to his legs, standing up.

Tsubasa stood silently with her arms at her side. A gentle breeze blew her blonde hair.

"How did you pull off such a perfect combo, with Place Cards that can't be modified?" Marth was beyond curous. "The cliff wall has to be 50 meters high. The bubbleshield might not weigh much, but you with all your armor and cargo along with I..." The questions in Marth's head were getting all jumbled as he pieced together the puzzle, so he asked the question differently. "The fire below the shield erupted with the perfect duration and velocity for us to reach this precise height. Since place card variables can't be modified after the projections have been sealed, how then were the variables so perfect for this situation?"

"I'm glad you've been learning about Place Cards. That will make my job much easier." Tsubasa smiled. "Place Cards are essential tools for combat. They allow a projection to take place, without the projector's stamina to be drained."

"The projector could have placed the projection the day before, and recovered since then. I get that." Marth butted in.

"Indeed. But one thing you haven't got yet is that Place Cards can be sealed with more than one projection." Tsubasa taught.

"More than one? But what about the artwork on the front?" Marth rationalized. "Each projection has a unique piece of art. There isn't room for a second."

"That's because the second projection doesn't affect shared reality like the first projection." Tsubasa crossed her arms as she expounded. "The second projection is for augmenting the first."

"You mean like the variables?"

"Exactly. Variables, or conditions to set the variables."

"Place cards have an initialization function?" Marth was reminded of a programming class he had taken in High School.

"Essentially, yes."

"How do you do it?"

Tsubasa nodded, then assumed the position she had held before drawing each card. Knees bent, a slight forward lean, her left hand on her left hip, and her right hand reaching across to meet her left hand.

Tsubasa concealed the opening of her card pouch from Marth's view with her left hand. With her right hand, she slowly produced a card from the pouch, pushing her hand with the card forward towards Marth. In slow motion, Tsubasa extended her arm, card pinched between her index and middle fingers and thumb. With an obvious twisting motion, Tsubasa flicked with her fingers, released the card a few centimeters in front. The card held it's position in air, rotating until it's face was pointing at Marth.

"A camp fire." Marth's eyes widened at the sight, quickly turning to dive for cover.

Marth jumped to the ground head first, agitating the dirt on the on the ground which formed a plume of dust. Marth's hands covered his head, bracing for an imminent blast of heat.

"You're so cute." Tsubasa laughed as the card let out a match head size flame. The flame went out almost immediately with a puff of smoke as the card fell gracefully to the regolith.

With hands still covering his head, Marth looked up from his prone position. "Would you quit messing with me?"

"Uh, uh uh!" Tsubasa waved a finger. "A good esper must be ready for anything!" Tsubasa chuckled.

"Seriously." Marth stood up, unimpressed.

Tsubasa calmed herself and cleared her throat.

"Do you understand now?"

"Not really. You threw a fire place card at me and it happened to make a small fire this time."

"But how did I throw it?" Tsubasa retorted.

"Slowly, and with a twist of your wrist." Marth answered.

"How was that compared to how I threw the first Burst of Embers?"

"That one was thrown faster, with more twist." The concept clicked in Marth's mind as he spat out his hypothesis. "The velocity and orientation of the cards are measured by the second augmentor projection. When thrown, the augmentor sets the first projection's variables!"

"You catch on pretty quick!" Tsubasa replied. "You may just have a chance of winning this thing." she said, referring to the upcoming competition.

"Tsubasa, that's it? The combo was so precise. How did you know how fast to throw?"

"Burst of Embers has three variables." Tsubasa crossed her arms again. "The intensity of the flames, the delay before the projection is unsealed, and the duration of the burst. Those three variables are set according to the speed of my arm's extension, speed of my finger's flick, and angle of rotation at the end of my wrist's twist. I asked Yoshida-sensei for your weight, added it to my own, and calculated the joules needed to force the ball to the precise height of the wall. The precision of my throw which influenced the variables just comes down to sheer practice."

"Sensei, I am not worthy!" Marth put his hands at his side, bowing his head in the most courteous form he could muster.

"Maybe not, but that's what we're here for." Tsubasa uncrossed her arms and turned to walk away from the quarry's ledge. "Let's get on to your next lesson."

"Yes ma'am!" Marth rose from his bow, jogging after the mighty Pillar.

The mine planet was a rocky expanse for as far as the eye could see. Devoid of trees or wildlife, the warm planet was lonely as can be.

"I see you've become used to the Admirite." Tsubasa said with her back to Marth as she led the way up a lifeless hill with scattered jagged boulders.

"I guess so. It's waves of blue light are always in my mind, though."

"Just think of it as a friend, not a foe." Tsubasa advised.

Marth looked ahead to the place Tsubasa was taking him. The terrain around the mine had been mostly flat with moderate rolling hills for as far as the eye could see. The two began to descend towards a shallow gulley, with tall brown rock outcroppings on either side. The ground was more of the same, powderized rock atop solid stone beneath.

"Why is powdered rock all over the place?" Marth wondered aloud.

"It's from the wind. Small stones are blown, crashing against bigger stones. Over time, those crashes produce powder, and more small stones."

Marth dragged his feet in the dry ground as he walked, kicking up dust.

"Where's all the wildlife? A planet this warm should be able to support plants at least."

Tsubasa shook her head. "This planet has been kept sterile since it's creation."

"Sterile? Like with chemicals?" Marth's curiosity continued.

"Aastral rovers. Soulless wandering beings with a single task. Seek and destroy all living things. If you see one of them out here, run."

"Are you kidding me? You left me alone in the mine for an entire day. What if I had run into one of them then?"

"They don't visit the mine unless specifically ordered to."

"So they just patrol the planet, killing anything that moves?" Marth's questions kept coming.

"Yes. They are able to detect large mammals to the smallest microbes. Anything alive they fry with extreme ultra violet."

As Marth walked next to Tsubasa into a valley of rocks, he was suddenly thankful that his desire to explore the planet had not been undertaken previously.

Tsubasa walked into an open area at the base of the gulley, surrounded on all sides by the rocky slopes of the hills.

"Marth, the Esperly order competition allows projections of all types, except for two. If you've been paying attention during your stay at St. Ezreal's, I'm sure you know which are forbidden?" Tsubasa spoke as she unbuckled her large backpack and dropped it to the ground. Her tactical belt around her waist remained, detached from the larger pack.

"Time, and the creation of life."

"That's good." Tsubasa put her hands on her hips. "As for the allowed types, anything goes, so long as direct attacks are of the non-lethal variety."

"Okay?" Marth was aware of the rules. The competition was a regular spectator event aired on TV.

Tsubasa bent her knees and leaned slightly forward, reaching her right hand across her body to join her left hand at her card pouch.

"Spar with me. Don't hold back, because you should know I won't."

"You've got stacks of Place Cards! I can't hope to compete with you!" Marth tried to stall, but crouched a bit ready for Tsubasa's first move.

Tsubasa drew a card from the pouch's opening concealed by her left hand so fast that Marth couldn't see the artwork. Throwing the card out at Marth with no twist of the wrist, the card halted instantly after leaving Tsubasa's fast flicking fingers, sending a massive burst of hot air flying towards Marth.

Marth braced, not having prepared a defense for such an attack.