📖 Chapter 5 — "The Closed Threshold"
That day, the sunlight seemed to filter lazily through the curtains of the meditation hall. Sayuri had left on a sudden trip to the Land of Rice, and Shuri—her constant protector and shadow—took the chance to train him in one of the inner rooms of the compound.
"Relax your breathing, Rei." Shuri's voice was firm but calm. "Chakra is a current. If you push against it, it scatters. If you follow it, it flows."
Rei obediently closed his eyes. His body still carried the lingering energy of the strange dream from the night before. The seal on his chest burned intermittently, as if it wanted to speak to him… or guide him.
Shuri continued the exercise, but Rei began to feel the world around him blur.
First came a hum. Then a sharp pull, as if something were yanking him from the pit of his stomach inward, into himself.
And in an instant… he awoke somewhere else.
The tree from the previous dream wasn't there. Neither the mist, nor the lake, nor the black-eyed figure.
In its place stretched a vast circular hallway. The walls were made of a smooth, dark material, streaked with glowing blue veins that pulsed like living vessels. Along the corridor—doors. Dozens. Hundreds.
Each bore a different symbol. Some had names carved into them: Dark Souls, King of Fighters, Ikkitousen, Maken-Ki, Dead or Alive… and many others without names, only spiraling runes.
The atmosphere wasn't oppressive, but it was solemn.
Rei wasn't dreaming.
He could feel his breath, the quick pulse in his temples, the warmth of the seal on his chest—glowing faintly each time his eyes landed on certain doors.
He reached out to touch one.
"Stop." A voice emerged, soft but firm.
He turned and saw a faceless female figure, made of pale light, hovering just above the ground.
"Who are you?"
"A projection of your subconscious. The avatar of the Threshold," the figure replied. "You've crossed for the first time. You cannot enter yet. There is no balance."
"Balance?"
"Your body and soul must be in harmony. The seal has not yet completed its first emotional resonance. When it does, a door will open."
Rei looked around. There was a door bearing the same symbol as the seal on his chest. It was completely sealed—no handle, no keyhole. But near it, another vibrated faintly. A small, worn wooden one, marked with a crossed-sword emblem.
"And this one?"
"An early trial. A training ground. Not a dungeon in itself. A simulation. Accessible only for brief moments, until your spirit recognizes it."
Before he could ask more, he was pushed toward that door.
The world changed.
Suddenly, he was inside a traditional Japanese dojo. In front of him stood a slim figure, black-haired, with a steady gaze. A girl wielding a katana: Kuina.
Rei staggered. He had no chakra flowing at the moment. He was slower, clumsier.
"Begin!" a voice shouted, and Kuina lunged forward.
Rei instinctively raised his arms. He felt the impact, rolled across the floor.
The fight was brief. A minute at most. He was thrown down once, twice, three times. Every one of her moves was a precise dance. There was no hatred, only technique. She wasn't trying to hurt him—only to test him.
Then, the vision shattered.
The dojo vanished. He was back in the corridor. The faceless woman hovered before him again.
"Your body has not yet adapted. But you have touched the edge of the path."
"Why show me this? What am I supposed to do?"
"All of this is within you, Rei. This is your forge. The inner world does not respond to what you want… it responds to what you are."
The doors began closing slowly. The lights went out, one by one.
Before sending him back, the figure added:"Return when the seal burns without fear. Then, a real dungeon will open."
Rei came back to himself—gasping, drenched in sweat. Shuri was watching him, worried.
"What happened?" she asked.
Rei didn't answer right away.
He looked at his hands. They were still trembling.
"I daydreamed… and fought," he said at last. "But it wasn't a dream. I know it."
Shuri frowned, pulling open the front of his kimono to inspect the faintly glowing seal.
"That caused it?"
Rei nodded.
That night, he couldn't sleep.
He spent hours writing down everything he had seen—trying to recall every symbol, every door, every word. He realized the inner world wasn't just a mental space. It was a place. A training ground. A path to power. A crossroads.
And although he still couldn't enter the real dungeons… he knew his journey had already begun.