A thick tension hangs in the morning air. The usual exhaustion from training lingered in their bodies, but today was different. Today was the real test.
Shiku, Houki, and Kasumi stand side by side, facing Nobori, who exudes his usual air of unreadable confidence. His arms were crossed, his gaze sharp and expectant. Behind him, the dense forest looms, shadows stretching between the towering trees.
"This will be different from the last week," Nobori begins, his voice steady. "Your training so far has been about endurance, reaction, and control. But survival—true survival—demands more than just strength."
Shiku crosses his arms, eyes narrowing. "So, what's the catch this time?"
Nobori smirks. "Simple. You're going into the wilderness for one week. No outside help. No supplies. Just your Élan abilities, your instincts, and each other."
Kasumi blinks. "Wait… we're just supposed to survive?"
"Surviving isn't the challenge," Nobori says, his smirk deepening. "Coming back in one piece is."
A chill runs down Shiku's spine. He exchange glances with Houki and Kasumi, but neither of them spoke.
Nobori gestures dramatically with his thumb, motioning to the dense woods looming behind him. "Back there lies a forest teeming with young demons, each one more mischievous than the last." His tone shifts, a blend of excitement and warning, as he continues, "It's a wild place, filled with dangers that lurk just beyond the shadows!"
His smirk fades slightly. "Lately, those dangers have been getting a little too close to the kingdom."
Houki furrows his brow. "So… what? We're just supposed to avoid them for a week?"
Nobori chuckles. "Avoid them? No, no, no." His expression turns sharp, his eyes gleaming with challenge. "You're going to hunt them."
Kasumi stiffens. "Wait—you expect us to fight demons with no supplies?"
"Not just fight them," Nobori corrects. "You need to learn how to live in the wild. That means finding food, securing shelter, and dealing with threats—without relying on anyone but yourselves."
Shiku exhales through his nose. "So it's not just a survival test—it's a demon extermination mission."
Nobori gives a lazy shrug. "Call it what you want. If you don't want to end up as demon food, you'd better learn fast."
A smirk tugs at the corner of Shiku's lips. This was starting to sound fun.
Kasumi steps back in shock, her eyes wide with disbelief. "But we haven't even managed to land a hit on you," she exclaims, frustration lacing her voice. "How are we supposed to survive against demons that are trying to kill us?"
The weight of her words hung in the air, a reflection of the fear and uncertainty that gripped her and her companions. They stand on the precipice of an overwhelming challenge, unsure of how to confront such formidable threats when they can't even defend themselves effectively.
For the first time since the training began, doubt was creeping in.
Nobori's expression didn't change. He simply rolls his shoulders, exhaling through his nose. "Sounds like you're figuring out the point of this test."
Kasumi's breath caught in her throat. "You mean—?"
"Yes," Nobori cut in. "Right now, you don't stand a chance. If I left you in that forest as you are, you'd be dead within the first day."
His words struck like a slap, blunt and unforgiving.
Houki clenches his fists "Then why send us at all?"
Nobori's smirk returns, though there is something almost serious behind it now. "Because nothing forces you to evolve faster than the risk of death."
A tense silence follows.
But before any of them could dwell on the weight of his words, Nobori suddenly clapped his hands together.
Nobori emphasizes the importance of today's training by declaring, "But for today, we'll continue with a bit of meditation." He believes that to succeed, one must forge a connection with their spirit, insisting that this connection is essential for any chance of success in their endeavors.
With this in mind, he prepares the students for a session that promises to deepen their understanding and strengthen their bonds with the forces that guide them.
Shiku blinks. "Wait—what?"
Houki's expression flattens. "You just told us we'd die in a day if we went in unprepared. And now you want us to… sit and breathe?"
Kasumi, despite her earlier panic, tilts her head. "What does meditation have to do with surviving demons?"
Nobori lets out an exaggerated sigh. "You three are strong, sure. But strength alone doesn't win battles." He taps his temple. "Control. Awareness. A real connection with your Élan spirit—that's what separates amateurs from warriors."
His expression hardens slightly. "If you don't know how to properly synchronize with your spirit, you won't last long out there."
The words hang in the air for a moment.
Kasumi was the first to nod. "That… actually makes sense."
Shiku groans, rubbing the back of his head. "Great. So we're fighting for our lives… by sitting still."
Nobori smirks. "Exactly."
With that, he gestures for them to sit, the morning air still and quiet as they prepare to face their next battle—not with their fists, but with their minds.
The three of them sit on the ground legs crossed, fingers locked, and eyes closed.
At first, there is only silence. The occasional rustle of leaves. The distant chirping of birds. The rhythmic inhale and exhale of their own breathing.
Shiku peeks an eye open. "Nothing's happening," he says.
He sighs, shifting slightly. Meditation isn't exactly his thing. He preferred moving, hitting, or doing something. But Nobori has made it clear—this was as much a fight as any battle.
Across from him, Kasumi sits perfectly still, her expression calm, as if she has done this a thousand times.
Houki, on the other hand, looks tense, his fingers twitching slightly.
Nobori's voice cut through the quiet. "Stop thinking. Let go of distractions. Focus on the energy within."
Shiku huffs, but tries again. He slowed his breathing, letting his awareness drift inward.
After hours of constant meditation
Something sudden happens—
A pull.
A strange, weightless sensation washes over him like he was being dragged somewhere else. His thoughts blur, and his body feels distant. And suddenly—
When Shiku opens his eyes, he wasn't in the forest anymore.
He stands in an endless sea of flames, stretching infinitely in all directions. The heat doesn't burn but it pulsed with a living presence, like a heart beating in sync with his own.
Ahead of him, a fiery figure looms, standing tall within the inferno. Its eyes—piercing and golden—locked onto his.
A deep, rumbling voice echoes in his mind.
"You entered my realm again."
Shiku's breath hitches. "Are you… Incedis."
Incedis steps forward, its form flickering like the flames around it. The shape is humanoid, but its body was wrapped in a powerful flame, glowing embers shifting beneath its skin like an eternal flame coursing through veins. Golden eyes, sharp as the sun, locked onto him.
"You've been suppressing the great flame within."
Shiku swallows. "What?"
The entity's voice was like an inferno roaring to life.
"You fight. You burn. But you hold back. Why?"
The flames flare violently, licking at his skin.
"Liar."
The heat bore down on him, pushing against his very core. His knees nearly buckle under the weight of the pressure. It isn't just fire—it was judgment.
"Do you fear the power of my flame?"
Shiku's breath comes quicker.
"You're reckless… with no control of your mana."
The embers at his feet swirl, wrapping around his arms, his chest—as if trying to wake something inside him.
"What are you afraid of, boy?"
Shiku grits his teeth. "I'm not—"
The flames around him explode outward, forcing him back.
Incedis towers over him, the golden eyes never leaving his.
"Control or be consumed. The flame does not wait."
The fire beneath Shiku's feet flares—and then, just as suddenly, it vanishes.
And he is yanked back into reality.
❧
When Houki opens his eyes, he is slowly falling.
Or rather, he isn't.
He floats, weightless, surrounded by an infinite abyss. The space around him is neither cold nor warm—just empty. There is no up or down, no light or shadow. Only the endless stary black void stretching in every direction.
Yet, he isn't afraid.
He knew this place.
There was no wind, no sound, no weight. Just the cold embrace of the void. He isn't falling, nor floating. He simply existed within it.
It isn't welcoming, but it isn't hostile either. It simply exists—and so does he.
Then, the silence shatters.
Then—a whisper.
"Finally. You stopped running."
Houki tenses. Houki turns sharply, and before him stood a figure wrapped in flowing shadows.
It was humanoid, yet shifting, its body made of pure black mist, its edges constantly unraveling and reforming like it was never meant to be fully seen.
It shifts, shadows unraveling and reforming, never fully solid, as if it was never meant to be seen in its entirety. A figure wrapped in pure darkness, its edges blurring between existence and nonexistence.
Houki's pulse quickens. "Nyxen?"
The figure does not answer immediately. Its form wavers, stretching, contracting. Then, those piercing eyes—pale slivers of silver light—focus on him.
"You do not embrace the void."
Houki stiffens. "How do I embrace what I don't understand?"
Nyxen moves.
Or rather, it doesn't. The space itself bends, and suddenly, it is right in front of him. Houki jerks back, but there is nowhere to retreat—only an endless void.
"Riding the void isn't just stepping through it. It's becoming one everything but nothing at the same time."
Houki swallows hard. "What does that even mean?"
Nyxen's voice does not echo—it simply is.
"You hold back. Afraid to lose yourself in what you do not understand."
Houki clenches his fists. "I'm not afraid."
A pause. Then—laughter.
Soft, eerie. A sound that isn't mocking, but isn't kind either.
"Lies. You seek control, yet you deny the void that already welcomes you."
The void collapsed toward Houki.
He tried his hardest to think—calculate, analyze, predict.
But there was no time.
No moment to assess. No opening to plan.
Only the need to act.
Move, or be swallowed.
Houki clenches his fists—and for once, he didn't think.
He moves.
His body flickers, shifting through the darkness as if teleporting between the dimensional void itself.
The void lurches, but it no longer swallowed him. It follows him. Matches him.
The shadowed figure chuckles. "You are learning."
Houki lands, breath sharp, heart pounding. He feels it now—a presence that has always been there, but he had never fully grasped.
The void isn't his enemy.
It was his plaything.
And then—darkness collapses inward.
And just like that, Houki is awake.
The three of them snap back to consciousness at the same time, their eyes flying open.
The morning air still surrounds them, the world unchanged—yet, everything felt different.
Shiku clenches his fists. A flicker of flame coils at his fingertips before vanishing.
Houki's vision seems…sharper. The shadows around him clung to his presence, as if waiting for him to move.
Kasumi looks at her hands. A soft, emerald green glow pulsed faintly at her fingertips—warm, steady.
Nobori watches them carefully.
Then, he smirks. "Now you're starting to get it."
The three exchange glances.
Something in them has changed.
And this was just the beginning.
❧