They were under attack.
Itekan had no idea how they'd been found so quickly. It had barely been a day. To be discovered this soon was... devastating.
A sword slashed toward his throat, and Itekan barely managed to intercept it with his shadow tentacles. He leapt back, quickly performing a flurry of hand signs. Two miniature Chajamas—condensed spiritual energy projectiles—formed in his palms and shot toward his attacker.
The man countered effortlessly. A burning blue sphere of raw energy clashed with Itekan's Chajama, triggering an explosive collision that hurled them both several meters apart.
Just a few paces away, Itoyea was on the defensive. He'd already been forced to reveal more of his techniques than he liked, while his opponents seemed to be holding back. He parried a sword strike from the left and twisted in to narrowly evade another aimed at his flank. With a shout, he imbued his blade with SE, causing it to glow crimson.
"Way of the Wind: Third Form — Wind Gale!" he declared, slicing forward.
The energy from his blade erupted outward, a sonic burst that cleaved through one of his attackers' arms.
"ARGH!!" the man screamed, stumbling back. The other enemy retreated with him to regroup.
Itoyea's breathing grew heavier. He couldn't hold out much longer. Physically, he could outlast most, but the limitations of his Spiritual Sea (SS) and SE regeneration made extended battles impossible. If he burned out now, they'd all fall.
But Kutote had it worse.
Once the enemy realized who he was—the missing subject—they deployed more men to ensure his capture. He ducked beneath falling ice rods and countered with a gust of wind, blasting one attacker into another.
Spinning with his fists ablaze, he knocked out two assailants instantly. Just as he turned to launch another strike—
A sonic blast slammed into him, throwing him to the ground. He screamed in agony, barely managing to raise a wind barrier as a rain of ice arrows followed.
Itekan's eyes snapped toward the scream. He saw Kutote overwhelmed beneath a flood of attacks. Panic surged through him. If they broke down now, they'd be slaughtered—and Kutote would be dragged back to that cursed lab.
And it was all Itekan's fault.
Headmaster Kime had warned them. Warned him. Don't provoke the enemy. Don't make waves.
And what had he done? The exact opposite. Dragged Itoyea and Kutote into a war they weren't ready for.
"Should've just run," Itekan muttered bitterly.
His hands, now glowing with SE, moved through complex hand signs. This technique—his newest one—had been given to him in the form of a scroll, a reward from the Head Scribe of Lysternia.
He'd picked it from a list blindly, not understanding its true power.
No one should've given a skill this destructive to a kid. Not even a hero.
The one time he'd used it in a spar with Itoyea, it nearly killed them both. Headmaster Kime had to intervene and promptly banned its use—ordering Itekan to shelve it until he had better control over his SE.
But now? Now it was all he had left.
"Starbreaker!!" Itekan shouted, finishing the last seal.
His hands glowed hot—SE shifting from deep blue to a pale, volatile white. Then it erupted.
A colossal beam of plasma energy tore forward, vaporizing his attacker like paper in a furnace. The beam didn't stop there—it kept going, annihilating everything in its path.
Itekan gritted his teeth, forcing the beam to shift mid-flight. He locked onto the group overwhelming Kutote.
They never stood a chance. The plasma flash-fried them instantly.
---
Reia Alexis, watching from across Crooks Lake, felt the surge of SE ripple through the world. Her eyes narrowed, and she dashed across the water, yanking one of her subordinates out of the beam's path just in time.
Hissing, she turned her gaze toward Itekan and folded her arms. Her body shimmered—transforming into pure light.
In a blink, she was gone.
And in the next, she pierced cleanly through Itekan's skull. A beam of light. A living projectile. There was no dodging light. No blocking it.
Itekan dropped, lifeless, onto the ground. A gaping hole in the center of his forehead marked where the beam had struck.
Itoyea had just felled his second opponent when he saw Itekan fall.
"ITEKAN!!" he cried out, voice filled with rage and pain.
Headmaster Kime's voice echoed in his head. "You must temper his impulses. You must balance him."
He'd failed.
Itekan may have been the one to attack first, but Itoyea had done nothing to stop him. Truthfully, he'd felt the same rage. The same need to lash out. If given the chance, he would've acted just as recklessly.
Reia reappeared behind him, but Itoyea was already moving. Sword drawn, fury boiling in his chest.
He struck.
But Reia moved like wind through fingers—dodging each slash with ease, slipping through his attacks like she was dancing with a child.
Kutote, finally free from his attackers, rushed to Itekan's side. His red spirit pulsed with energy as it worked frantically over Itekan's body.
Itoyea gritted his teeth. His attacks meant nothing. Reia wasn't just playing with them—she was mocking them.
"Is this all?" she sneered. "I thought you brats would be stronger."
Even as she spoke, doubt crept into her mind. Her soldiers had been elite—Peak Blue Eyes, and Regulus was even stronger, a Denkei-form soldier.
But these kids… weren't even full Blue Eyes yet.
They should've been wiped out in minutes.
Then there was that beam attack. That wasn't something a normal 3rd Stage Hero could access. Not even close.
Itoyea, breathing heavily, realized he had one last shot. His final gamble.
His scroll contained a powerful sword art, but he'd been forbidden from using it until he'd mastered the Way of the Wind. So he'd left the scroll with Headmaster Kime.
Instead, he'd trained his own 4th form—the most physically demanding form of his style. The footwork alone had shredded the soles of his feet. The sword movements required intense discipline.
After months of pain, he'd finally mastered it.
But he'd never used it in battle.
Until now.
"Way of the Wind: Fourth Form — Celestial Wind!" Itoyea shouted, leaping back.
His arms moved in precise, flowing angles, each movement connecting seamlessly into the next.
Reia's eyes widened. The same dread she'd felt during the beam attack returned. Whatever this was—it was dangerous.
"What do you think you're doing?! Like I'll let you—!"
She vanished, appearing instantly beside him at light speed.
But just as she moved, ice spikes erupted and froze her in place.
Kutote, using his red spirit, had tracked her SST and predicted the teleport. He struck at the perfect time.
Itoyea nodded, grateful.
He only needed a moment.
His blade surged—fire and wind intertwining, forming a miniature inferno. He stepped once, instantly appearing beside the frozen Reia. His sword, shimmering with motion blur, left glowing afterimages in its wake.
The blade struck the ice.
BOOM!
A burst of steam exploded as wind and fire combined. The ice shattered cleanly—split down the middle—as the slash cut straight through Reia.
Itoyea collapsed to one knee, completely spent.
He turned toward Kutote and Itekan. But the look on Kutote's face made his heart drop.
"DODGE!!"
Itoyea threw himself to the ground, barely avoiding a beam of light aimed at his heart.
Reia reformed, standing between them.
"That was dangerous," she muttered, tearing off the remnants of her armor. Underneath, she wore a black combat bra. Tossing the shredded armor aside, she glared at them.
"By order of Brandish, you're all under arrest. For your own sake—don't move. I don't enjoy killing kids."
"Heh... liar."
The voice was low. Dark. Ancient.
Then came the destruction.
The ground ruptured. SE exploded outward in wild, chaotic waves. Reia's body tensed. Something was wrong. Something was waking.
She turned.
And saw the impossible.
Itekan's body—floating. SE from Crooks Lake surged into him.
Then—it plateaued.
The Seals of Nen snapped into place, halting the power from growing any further.
"Those damned seals!!" the voice growled.
Reia stepped back. Fear creeping in.
"W-who are you?" she asked.
Beside her, Itoyea and Kutote had both collapsed, unconscious under the sheer pressure.
Only Reia—so close to Henkei form—remained awake.
The being inside Itekan tilted its head, lightning crackling in the distance. The world seemed to bend under its presence.
"Uhm… I'm known as…"
"ODIEUM!!"
The air shattered. Trees bent. The sky cracked.
And the true nightmare had descended.
"What did you do to the boy?" Odieum asked pissed.
.
.
.
Spiritual Energy (SE)
Spiritual Sea (SS)
Spiritual Signature (SST)