The group had gathered on a wide circular terrace suspended in the void of the Sanuya. Below, a resonance lake stretched out, traversed by luminous veins of Ni that pulsed softly, like the silent heartbeat of a weightless world. The black sky shimmered with regular spiritual glows, imprinting a strange, almost hypnotic rhythm. An unreal calm prevailed; the world seemed to hold its breath.
Floch, sprawled on a bench with his arms behind his head, let out a satisfied sigh. "Well… I survived Kuzael. I even activated my Shiki without exploding. I deserve a medal. Or at least a spiritual massage."
Akiriho, focused on his notebook, barely looked up. "What you deserve most is to be quiet. Your Shiki vibrated for two seconds, and you screamed as if you'd just seen your energy bill."
"It was an artistic reaction," Floch replied with a smile. "I'm an expressive Senshi. My Ni understands me. It sparkles when I speak."
Calmly, Takumi recalibrated his gauntlet. "It sparkles because it's trying to escape your chatter. Even the Kirina flows have limits."
On a nearby platform, Kaen trained alone. His spiritual pistol appeared and disappeared with each precise movement, like a dance interrupted by instinct. His motions seemed to search for a balance between control and resonance.
Ishikawa joined him, his ethereal katana in hand. "You already control it. Mine only appears when I panic, and it vibrates… like it's afraid of me."
Kaen looked at the lake below before replying. "It's not afraid of you. It's testing you. Your Ni wants to know if you follow… or if you force it."
"And you?" asked Ishikawa, eyes fixed on the pistol's movement. "Do you follow it… or do you force it?"
Kaen smiled slightly, his gaze lost in the luminous veins of Ni. "I listen. And sometimes, it answers me. But never the way I expect."
A figure then appeared, descending slowly from a walkway. Naomi, her aura stable and serene, seemed immutable.
"You've all felt something," she said in a soft yet firm voice. "This isn't mastery of the Shiki yet. But it's the beginning. Don't try to control it. Try to understand it. Ni is not tamed. It reveals itself. And sometimes… it shows you what you refuse to see."
Silence fell over the terrace. Even Floch, usually so talkative, remained mute.
He finally exhaled, feigning seriousness: "Well… if my Ni shows me what I refuse to see… I hope it doesn't show me Takumi smiling. That would be too disturbing."
Takumi, without looking up, replied calmly: "My smile is reserved for critical situations. And your temporary disappearance."
Astou, sitting a few steps away, offered a gentle smile. "You're all changing. Even you, Floch. Your Ni reacted, and it didn't run. That's already a miracle."
A doubt lingered among them. Their Shiki had awakened by instinct, by miracle… or simply because the Sanuya forced them to open up, revealing fragments of their inner strength they had not yet known.
To be continued…