---
The forest was shaken by the sound of blades clashing, the branches cracking under the weight of impacts and bodies hitting the ground. The breeze carried the scent of wet earth and crushed leaves. From Nine's hand sprang a blade of black matter, dense, dark, and viscous. It solidified instantly, becoming a sharp weapon that cut the air with lightning speed. It passed a few millimeters from Taeki's neck, whose breath was cut off by the shock. His medium-length hair lifted in the wind, and his burning muscles made a superhuman effort so that he would not lose balance on the slippery ground.
Taeki: "Hey… Nine! Are you crazy or what? Do you really want to kill me!"
Nine did not move. His face remained fixed, impassive, his black and cold eyes fixing Taeki as if he were merely a minor obstacle in his path. Every fiber of his body seemed perfectly controlled, and his vibrating black matter around him seemed almost alive, ready to extend or solidify at any moment.
Nine: "If you want to progress, you should not complain for so little."
With a quick gesture, the black matter deployed around his leg and struck Taeki's guard with surgical precision. The impact propelled Taeki against a tree, and the trunk cracked under the blow. Leaves fell, swirling around him, as if the forest held its breath.
Nine: "This is not good… you are even worse than I thought."
Exhausted, Taeki sat, his back against the rough trunk, his legs bent, and his breath short. Three days of incessant fighting had emptied his body. Every movement cost him a monumental effort. His hands trembled, his muscles screamed under the strain, and the pain pierced him with every breath.
Taeki: "Three days… without a break… I no longer have the strength to fight like at the beginning…"
Nine: "At the beginning, you had a minimum level… now, you are only weak."
These icy words made Taeki's anger boil. With a leap, he grabbed Nine by the collar, his fingers clenched on the fabric of his jacket, shaking him with all the rage accumulated in three days of combat.
Taeki: "Listen to me well! I am doing everything I can! So if you have nothing to teach me… get out of here!"
Nine remained motionless. His black, deep gaze, like the black matter he manipulated, revealed no emotion.
Nine: "You talk a lot for a weakling."
Frustrated, Taeki let go of him and gave a middle finger.
Taeki: "Call me weak as much as you want… but know that one day, I will become so strong that I will be able to defeat the << Eternal King, Kaiser >>."
Nine barely blinked, his expression still impassive. A small dry laugh escaped his chest, cold and distant.
Nine: "You? Defeat Kaiser?"
He shook his head, the black matter around his hand stretching like a living shadow. "Kaiser is a monster, of the same caliber as << Darius, the man who succumbed to the sin of wrath >>. Even if he is far from their level, the whole world knows that one day he will equal them… or surpass << Solan Crown, the incarnation of pride >>. And you… do you really believe you can surpass them all?"
Taeki: "Yes."
His voice did not tremble. "I must defeat Kaiser. And if for that I have to surpass the whole world… then I will."
Nine remained silent, his face fixed, but a fleeting thought crossed his mind: how could he maintain this will, this humanity, while pursuing a burning vengeance?
---
The memories of Nine suddenly surged, more alive than ever. He was four years old. The cell where he was located was cold and metallic, imbued with the acrid smell of disinfectant and burning. Children's cries echoed, some fading into the silence of death. The researchers, white and impassive figures, watched him like a lab rat.
Each test was methodical torture: injections, manipulations, combat simulations. His small body trembled with fear and pain. But it was not only fear: it was the terror of what he had become, a monster endowed with black matter boiling in his veins. He saw himself as a rat, an object that the world had no right to let exist. Every scream of the other children, every suffering he witnessed, fed his hatred and despair.
Then the black matter awakened. A cold burn ran through his veins, his arms solidified into sharp weapons. For the little child he was, this power was not a blessing… it was a living nightmare.
But in this world of pain, one day, he met Ayoub. Taller than him, with black eyes pierced by a white gleam, dark and fine hair. Ayoub bore the same modifications as Nine. For the first time, Nine felt that he was not alone, that he was not just a monster among monsters. Even in this cruel world, he could exist. And this fragile encounter was the first breath of hope in his broken life.
---
The flashback vanished like a breath, leaving Nine facing Taeki, impassive. But in his mind, the memory of Ayoub and past sufferings remained, silent and burning, a scar that could not be seen.
Nine: "I have a question to ask… How is it that you can enjoy yourself or your life so much when your goal is to take revenge on Kaiser?"
Taeki thought for a moment, which caused wrinkles to appear on his face, then scratched his head and said:
"You know, yes I have a goal to reach, but that does not mean I must abandon everything else and make my revenge the center of my life, because once I have achieved my goal, what will the meaning of my life be? What will I have left?"
Once these words were heard, Nine's expression twitched slightly, then a laugh could be heard. Nine laughed, holding his head with one hand and his stomach with the other, which vexed Taeki.
Taeki: "Hey, if you just wanted to mock me, you didn't need to ask me!"
Nine's laughter began to stop little by little until it vanished entirely and he began to speak with a big smile:
Nine: "No, I am not mocking you, it's just that… I had never seen things that way."
He then turned, and the smile disappeared instantly and he said: "Follow me, I will teach you something."
He then began walking towards a large tree of 20 meters and a thickness between 120 cm and 150 cm, then stopped right in front of it and touched it with his hand.
Taeki: "Uh… What are you doing?" he asked, disoriented.
Nine: "This tree, you are going to break it." He replied patiently. Taeki, surprised, was about to speak, but Nine continued before he could.
Nine: "Inside every human there is an energy called numinous energy, it allows you to enhance your abilities, even to create projectiles, weapons, etc., if you are skilled enough, but I am still far from this level… But we can go further, reach what is called numinous abilities, which is the level above numinous energy, it allows you to have a unique ability that can be anything: telekinesis, ice, anything."
Taeki: "And… Why are you telling me this?" he asked hesitantly.
Nine: "Because you will have to learn to master this energy, of course I am not asking you to go further because even I am incapable, but if you want to one day defeat Kaiser, then this is the first step."
This made Taeki shiver, who until then did not even know how to approach Kaiser's level. And finally, after a short silence, Nine asked:
"Are you ready?"
"Yes, we can start." He said, striking his fist against his palm.
And thus began the true training of Taeki.