Editing BlazBlue:Phase Shift 1 Chapter 6 (section)

===Part 1===

When he exited the academy's school building into the courtyard, he thought that the weather outside felt nice.

The sky appeared hazier than usual. There were signs of it turning slightly dark.

Facing the whole city, he wondered if the Ten Sages in charge of purifying the seithr had produced any results. The way things were going, their hands would still be full for a while.

Kazuma went across the silent courtyard, a strange atmosphere compared with the normal bustle of the Mages' Guild. He headed toward the Cathedral which was standing centrally.

The meandering path was refreshing as if it was a promenade through a forest.

Lying in wait in the middle, the Cathedral was just as small as when viewed from the hallway's window. It didn't seem like the sort of place the Mages' Guild would store their classified information. 

Similar to a chapel, the entrance housed a large pair of wooden double doors. Just as Trinity had said, it was securely locked.

But for this island that had been raising magicians, things like physical locks only had the significance of a sign which had 'No entry without permission' written on it. With a short incantation and a small pattern drawn with his fingertip the lock fell, allowing Kazuma to continue all too soon.

After he got inside, he closed the doors. As he proceeded, he noticed that the place was silent as though it was a different airspace.

The air inside the building was a little warm compared to the outdoors.

Kazuma went in further. It seemed there was nobody inside. Granted it was a matter of course.

In the history of the Mages' Guild, today was the most critical situation. During such circumstances, there was no way that someone with knowledge of security magic would just be stood guard here.

And rather, the guardsmen for Cathedral were in charge of giving warning.

As there was nothing but a large hall on the Cathedral's ground floor, there was no reason to get rid of intruders. What was absolutely forbidden to enter was what was beyond here, the Cathedral's underground.

On the door leading to underground, there was a severely secure barrier imbued. If he were to carelessly approach it, he wouldn't get out with merely a scratch.

The guardsmen were instructed to warn anyone who carelessly approached the barrier.

Kazuma stood in front of the entrance which was leading to the underground.

"...This looks troublesome."

What was lying in wait for Kazuma was a wooden door which was heavy from the looks of it. It appeared it was enveloped in a slightly white haze.

Judging by the heightened magical power that was visible, it was a barrier.

Kazuma wasn't poor at cancelling barrier magic during class, but this one was a different case. When he cautiously stretched out his hand... he felt an uncomfortable feeling on his fingers.

Just by standing close to a strong barrier, it would burn a person's skin in order to repel them. However, this door was nothing like that.

Kazuma's fingers were hanging close to the door while he pondered over whether to touch it or not. But immediately, he boldly placed his hand on the door.

His breath was taken away reflexively. He had prepared for the appropriate impact and damage.

But even after three whole seconds had elapsed, Kazuma was still silently grabbing the door's knob.

When he pushed against it, the door opened.

The barrier was still functioning but Kazuma's hand broke through it and opened the door.

"What's the meaning of this...?"

Even when he muttered, no one answered.

Although he was confused, Kazuma narrowly slipped through the door and stepped inside. It was baffling, but if he could get in, then he wouldn't hesitate.

Inside the door was continuation of the hallway which had an arched ceiling. In the inner part, there was stairway leading downward, underground.

The magical lights which were floating at fixed intervals illuminated Kazuma's path.

As he went underground, the structure became more and more expansive. On the upper level, there was a meeting room and a room used to observe various data; both were used by all members of Mages' Guild.

Moreover as he went further downward, a meeting room that sometimes had been used for the Ten Sages' ceremonies appeared.

On each level, there were barriers erected whose strength matched the ability of the human who was authorized to utilize it. They weren't such things that could be lifted by the likes of students at all.

But even so, Kazuma's body was able to continue ahead. The barriers couldn't stop him; as if he was slipping through the mesh of a net that was supposed to catch intruders.

When the long stairway heading downwards into the depths of the cathedral ended, he arrived at an elevator which was controlled by magic. He also passed the barrier which had been erected there.

As if he was being guided——Kazuma arrived at the lowest level of the Cathedral.

After exiting the elevator, the hallway's ceiling grew tall which made it unlikely that it was underground. As expected, a wooden door awaited beyond that point.

Like a stamped seal, a magic circle appeared on the door.

No one but the Ten Sages was permitted to come here. Moreover, since a suitable magical power was needed, a barrier with ruthless degree of security was applied in such a way that if somebody were to touch it by mistake, they wouldn't be spared. It would result in death.

Shutting his mouth tightly, Kazuma touched the last guardian with a sullen look.

His fingers touched the wooden surface. After sliding them across the door as though he was tracing something, his palm finally touched it completely.

What he felt on his skin was just the firmness on an old, normal tree. It felt like if he were holding an axe, he could easily tear it down.

There was no handle on the door. As he pushed, it slowly opened as expected.

Of course, being able to get in here made even Kazuma frown in confusion.

Why couldn't the Cathedral's barriers stop Kazuma? Not even once had he used cancelling magic, but he had still managed to arrive at the lowest level.

"It's like... I'm being invited in."

Not matching its aging appearance, the door opened silently as Kazuma passed through it while he muttered.

Beyond the door was a breathtakingly vast circular room.

The ceiling was even taller than the hallway's. Although there wasn't any magical lighting device floating, the whole room seemed to be slightly luminescent as it was faintly bright.

The floor was tiled with mosaics; a stretched large flower-like pattern was depicted from the center to the outside. If it wasn't a flower, it might be a sun or flame pattern.

While stepping forward to the outermost petals, Kazuma looked around the surroundings.

Although the inside of the room was absurdly spacious, it was empty. It was nothing but a deserted room. Rather than being a place of storage for classified information, it was as if some kind of ceremony were about to begin at the place.

The drifting air had a different kind of coolness from the outside. It might be because there was no window and he didn't know how far he'd come that he had completely lost track of time.

When he took a step forward, the small, hard noise of footsteps disappeared like it was absorbed into the floor.

And at the same time, he felt the beating inside his chest accelerate.

"Here... The Azure is..."

Kazuma must be thinking that he had obtained the means to reach the Azure. Before he noticed it, Kazuma had been intending to get the Azure itself.

It wasn't reasonable anymore. It went beyond reasoning and it felt like instinct.

The inside of the room was even warmer than the surface. It was like he was within the warmth of a living being. The faint drifting heat slowly agitated Kazuma's spirits.

But for some reason, while walking further in, Kazuma also gradually became impatient.

There was nothing here. If there was no document or data, a map indicating where the Azure was wouldn't exist.

But it was impossible that there was nothing here. Terumi definitely said it was here.

"Terumi-san!"

Inside the giant, empty room, Kazuma raised his voice.

His voice echoed off the ceiling.

"I managed to get inside the Cathedral. Where is the Mages' Guild's classified information!?"

Kazuma hadn't expected it to be here; it was Terumi who said it.  But if that was the case, what could this vast, unoccupied room hold?

He looked up at the ceiling as if to search for Terumi's presence. While he looked around the room, little by little Kazuma's steps became wider as he walked toward the inner part of the room.

It was when he arrived at the center of the hall, he heard it.

"Soooo, you finally arrived~. Don't make me wait so long, Kazuma-chan."

Terumi's voice could be heard.

Taken aback, Kazuma looked around the surroundings. However, Terumi's figure was nowhere to be seen. Although there was no spot in which to hide, he couldn't even find a part of his shadow.

Despite that, Terumi's voice got even more audible.

"I got worried since you're so late, y'know? I've been wondering if you don't care about the Azure anymore and instead went along with those women to have a fun time enjoying tea~ ...while forgetting everything completely."

"Give me a break. Don't say such a disgusting thing."

Attempting to face his invisible friend, Kazuma showed an unambitious smile.

Kazuma sharpened his glare to search around the room.

Whenever Terumi started to talk, no doubt some kind of a situation was developing.

The few days from his first meeting with Terumi, each time he appeared, Kazuma's world had little by little been changing. The old days which were like invisible labyrinth had turned into a path.

It would be the same this time, surely. Bearing such feeling, Kazuma answered to the empty sky.

"Didn't I make a promise with you that I would definitely reach it? ...Besides, above all, I want to recover it."

In low voice, Kazuma spoke of his real motive. At that moment, the frivolous smile had already disappeared from his mouth.

He no longer hesitated. Inside Kazuma's chest, there was only a yearning toward the Azure.

"Really? You really want to get it back? Obtaining the Azure means you can't ever go back. Even if you regretted it, you wouldn't be able to let it go. You really still fine even like that?"

Terumi's question, asked at this late stage, instead seemed to encourage Kazuma's thought. Naturally, Kazuma didn't intend to go against it.

"There won't be any regret. I'll obtain it. All this time, I've been wishing only to have it."

The real him.

Who he should be.

Although even his shadow wasn't in sight, he knew that Terumi was grinning.

"Then... look. It's just right there, isn't it?"

"Right there?"

Questioning, Kazuma again looked around the surrounding.

The truly vast room where he stood alone was silent, as if time had stopped.

It might be his imagination, but currently, the flow of time here felt slow.

"It's there. Just right there. Look, it's really close to you..."

The voice that came from the strained throat teased Kazuma on purpose. It whispered to him from awfully close.

"It's... below your feet." 

Then, he was attacked by goose bumps.

Rather than a chill that ran on his spine, it was a sensation like a flaming hot snake crawling up.

Kazuma followed the urging from the snake on his spine and looked down on his feet.

Before he knew it, both of Kazuma's feet had arrived firmly at the very center of the hall. The core of the large flower, sun, and swirling flame of a pattern.

The floor was polished, just like a mirror. There was a reflection of him looking back up. His eyes met the eyes of the other side's image.

Disordered, long bangs, slender feet and thin shoulders, a familiar academy uniform. It was the usual him.

As if drawn in by his reflection, Kazuma put one knee down to the spot and bent over.

Toward the circular center of the mosaic tiles, he gently placed his hand.

That instant——.

"...!"

His cry didn't come out.

As both his and the image's palms touched each other, his body trembled as if petrified. He got frozen on the spot.

Travelling up his arm, via the hand that touched the floor, something was entering Kazuma.

Like a storm that caused surging waves, it was a tremendous torrent of information.