The forgotten Impmon

"Wizardmon, what's wrong with Impmon?"

Looking at the frozen Impmon, Guilmon asked Mo Yan blankly.

"It's nothing too serious. He just went a little off the rails during training and lost control of his power."

Faced with Guilmon's question and Takato Matsuki's searching gaze, Mo Yan gave a rather irresponsible answer.

"Huh? That sounds pretty serious, doesn't it?

Why aren't you worried at all, Wizardmon?"

Mo Yan's answer startled Takato Matsuki.

"Every gain comes with a loss. Training is never smooth sailing.

If he wants greater power, if he wants to evolve without help from humans,

then he has to endure the hardships that come with it."

Mo Yan turned toward Takato Matsuki, his tone quite stern and somewhat merciless.

"Training?

Can training make you stronger?

Then Guilmon wants to train too!

Mmph..."

Raising his sharp claws, Guilmon immediately declared that he wanted to train as well.

"Guilmon, it's too dangerous."

Hearing Guilmon's words, Takato Matsuki immediately covered his wide mouth, stopping him from saying anything else.

"Guilmon wants to train too?

You've got plenty of fighting spirit."

Beneath his hood, Mo Yan smiled faintly, completely ignoring Takato Matsuki's words.

"Guilmon wants to get stronger so he can protect Takato better."

After struggling for a while, Guilmon finally escaped Takato Matsuki's restraint and spoke to Mo Yan very earnestly.

"Guilmon..."

Hearing Guilmon's words, Takato Matsuki took his claw, looking deeply moved.

"Takato..."

Caught up in Takato Matsuki's emotions, Guilmon gazed back at him with equal "affection."

"..."

Data release!

Dracomon!

The friendship radiating from Takato Matsuki and Guilmon was seriously assaulting Mo Yan's eyes.

So Mo Yan promptly released his DigiCore representing Dragon-type Digimon.

[Dracomon, Rookie, Data Dragon-type Digimon.

An ancient, pure-blooded Dragon-type Digimon said to be the "ancestor" of all dragon-species Digimon.

Its small body possesses unimaginable physical abilities, with strength and agility at the pinnacle of Rookie Digimon.

It has a very ferocious temperament, but shows an obedient side toward anyone it acknowledges.

It has wings, but they are underdeveloped, leaving it unable to fly.

Its most distinctive trait is its habit of collecting "shiny things." It is particularly obsessed with gems and metals, eating anything that catches its fancy.

Its special moves are "Petit Breath," which blasts enemies with high-temperature breath, and "Dragon Tail Smash," which strikes with its tail by spinning its entire body. Among the scales covering Dracomon's body is a spot known as the "reverse scale." If touched there, Dracomon loses awareness in its rage. After the horn on its head glows intensely, it indiscriminately fires the beam "Supersonic Wave Cannon" from its mouth.]

During the Dragon Battle, Mo Yan had successfully drawn out and unleashed a dragon's wild instincts, causing a new change in his DigiCore.

As a result, Mo Yan had mastered the ability to release a DigiCore separately and form a Digimon.

In the eyes of the Four Holy Beasts, this ability had little merit.

The Four Holy Beasts pursued their own strength and breakthroughs in their fundamental power.

Their Twelve Digicores were merely external energy sources that supplied them with a continuous flow of energy.

Mo Yan, by contrast, inscribed all sorts of data into the Twelve Digicores and developed various Digimon forms.

To the Four Holy Beasts, such actions spread his efforts too thin and amounted to neglecting the essentials for the sake of trifles.

Qinglongmon had also advised Mo Yan to focus on a breakthrough in the power of a single form, condense a DigiCore uniquely his own, and use the Twelve Digicores as external energy sources.

However, Mo Yan had politely declined Qinglongmon's suggestion. He had his own ideas.

Moreover, those ideas had received SageMon's approval.

But to realize his ideas, Mo Yan needed to keep traveling and gathering the data he required.

That was also why Mo Yan used Qinglongmon's influence to make every effort to build friendly relations with the various factions.

Back to the matter at hand.

Digimon manifested in this way had no self-awareness.

They possessed only the instincts Mo Yan gave them and those formed from the data inscribed into them.

Of course, it would be a different matter if Mo Yan put his own consciousness into them.

As long as Mo Yan's consciousness was strong enough,

becoming a one-man army would be no problem.

"Huh?

Wizardmon, you don't have to keep changing forms anymore?!"

Seeing a Dracomon emerge from Mo Yan's body, Takato Matsuki couldn't help feeling curious.

"Roar!"

A roar brimming with draconic might drew Takato Matsuki's attention and put Guilmon on guard.

As a pure-blooded Dragon-type Digimon, Dracomon possessed all the traits shared by Dragon-type Digimon.

Not just a powerful body, but also the urge to fight and defeat its own kind.

"Mm...

Takato, I want to fight."

Facing Dracomon's challenge, Guilmon remained on guard as he asked Takato Matsuki.

"Well...

Wizardmon, what are you trying to do?"

The familiar scene made Takato Matsuki instinctively frown, and he couldn't help questioning Mo Yan.

"What am I trying to do?

I'm teaching Guilmon how to train, just as he requested, of course."

Mo Yan shook the staff in his hand, and a force that distorted space began rippling outward.

"Teaching Guilmon to train?

Then what's this Dracomon for?"

Clearly, Mo Yan's answer did nothing to reassure Takato Matsuki.

"A Dragon-type Digimon's training should naturally be guided by another Dragon-type Digimon, Dracomon."

As he pondered what sort of terrain to create, Mo Yan spared some attention to answer Takato Matsuki.

"Is that really all?"

Because of what Mo Yan had done last time, Takato Matsuki was still a little worried.

"Relax. When have I ever lied to you?"

As Mo Yan continued releasing magic power, all sorts of terrain appeared around them.

Mountains, ravines, rivers...

Jungles, lakes, target ranges...

As the Twelve Digicores continued to develop, the power Mo Yan could wield grew ever greater.

Using the Dimensional Domain over such a vast area and making alterations like these

had been beyond Mo Yan's abilities in the past.

"Then I'll head home. I'll leave Guilmon in your care, Mr. Wizardmon."

Seeing the terrain Mo Yan had created, Takato Matsuki finally chose to trust him and said his goodbyes.

"Takato, are you going home?"

Hearing Takato Matsuki's words, Guilmon was reluctant to part with him.

"Yeah, it's getting late. If I don't go home soon, I'll get told off again.

Guilmon, do your best and train hard."

Nodding, Takato Matsuki gave Guilmon some encouragement.

"Guilmon is really strong!"

Seeing that Dracomon hadn't attacked, Guilmon turned to Takato Matsuki and thumped his chest in assurance.

"Yeah, I believe in Guilmon."

Takato Matsuki patted Guilmon's head to show his confidence in him.

"Then, Mr. Wizardmon, Impmon, see you tomorrow."

Takato Matsuki politely said goodbye to Mo Yan and the still-frozen Impmon.

"See you tomorrow, Takato."

"See you tomorrow."

Guilmon and Mo Yan answered Takato Matsuki's farewell one after the other and watched him leave.

As for Impmon, he remained frozen.

"Now, the first training exercise, Wild Jungle, begins!"

The scenery shifted, and Guilmon and Dracomon appeared in a jungle.