Leo left Max, his smile vanishing the moment he turned the corner. The war might be coming tomorrow, but his true work had to be done tonight.
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He began the walk toward a place few Stellars knew existed: a quiet, unremarkable sector near the ruins of the planet's old infrastructure. In this place, the few remaining, secretive Humans lived.
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Before reaching the boundary, Leo retreated into the shadow of an abandoned power conduit. His hands went to his face. He didn't use any physical Stellar glamour; instead, he subtly manipulated the ambient light and energy field around his features, shifting the sharp edges of his jawline and softening the intense focus of his eyes. The powerful, unreadable face of Senior Leo, leader of the Arcana Protocol, melted away, replaced by the smoother, less imposing features of... just Leo.
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He continued his walk through the desolate fringe, but his steps suddenly froze. His extraordinary senses, the ones that made him a leader and a mystery, flared to life. High above, beyond the atmosphere, he felt the cold, clinical glare of a surveillance system—a Superior satellite tracking his exact position. They were probing the ruins.
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The anger, usually buried deep beneath his layers of composure, erupted. Leo didn't raise his voice or move his body. He simply stared up into the night sky, his eyes burning with controlled fury.
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"How dare you stare at me like that?" he stated, the words leaving his mouth like a physical wave of dark energy.
Miles above, aboard a monitoring vessel, the entire Superior bridge crew was thrown into chaos. Their surveillance system, a multi-million-credit piece of advanced tech, had just overloaded, spitting smoke and alarms, its main camera lens physically shattering under a wave of incomprehensible force. The Terras and Gigas aboard stared wide-eyed at the blank screen, an invisible threat having just issued an instantaneous warning across the void.
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"If you do this again, you know what will happen to you."
Zen waited one cold moment, ensuring the message landed. Then, satisfied that the Superiors would think twice before locking onto his signature again, he continued his journey to the hidden training grounds.
The training center was not a compound but a cavern carved deep into the ruins of Planet Arcana—a desolate place known locally as Oscuro, the "dark place." It was a wasteland of shattered Stellar history, perfectly suited for a secret that defied Stellar tradition.
The instant Zen stepped through the camouflaged entrance, a metallic blur shot toward his head.
He didn't activate his magic, nor did he flinch. With a simple, inhumanly fast shift of balance and a turn of his forearm, he effortlessly trapped the training blade aimed at him, twisting it out of the attacker's grip. The attacker went sprawling onto the dirt floor in a controlled fall.
"Why do you always win, Zen?" a frustrated, light voice complained from the ground.
Leo offered a hand, a rare, almost imperceptible smile touching his lips.
"Lucy, it was you. Why do you always attack me like that?"
Name = Lucy Himenu
Age = 17
About her = She is human and a powerful sword art fighter.
Lucy dusted herself off, her expression a mix of awe and disappointment.She possessed the fierce discipline of a Human, but she was younger and more impulsive.
Here, in Oscuro, they knew him only by his surname, the powerful, private Zen. No one here connected him to the great, reserved leader of the Arcana Protocol.
"I thought I had you this time. One day, I'll surprise you," Lucy vowed, picking up her blade.
Zen sighed internally. One day, he feared, she might.
When they entered the training ground secretly because they were late together Master Kaelen caught them
Name = Kaelen Minohara
age = 50
About him = he is a retired soldier
"You both are the strongest students, and you think I can't detect your absence?"
Zen and Lucy instantly straightened. "Master Kaelen," they said in unison.
Kaelen's lips curled into a rare, unexpected smile. "By the way, are you two dating? You show remarkable synchronization."
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"No!" they both answered, the word exploding from them simultaneously.
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"Dating her?" Zen scoffed, an angry flush rising beneath his features. "If she were the last person in this cosmos, I still wouldn't date her."
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"Who in the world would date you, Zen?" Lucy shot back, her disappointment at being caught instantly turning to anger.
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"STOP!" Kaelen barked before immediately collapsing into a burst of silent laughter, shaking his head.
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"Master Kaelen!" they protested at the same time, mortified.
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"Well, now that the romantic tension has been cleared," Kaelen said, wiping his eyes, "start practicing. Did you both bring your lightsabers?"
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"Yes," they replied, grabbing their unique training blades.
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The air shifted as Kaelen's expression hardened, his brief moment of humor gone. "But Master Kaelen," Zen began, the question escaping his guarded control, "I have a question. Why do we live in dark and hidden places? The Stellars are good people; they will not attack us."
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Kaelen's eyes became glacial. The retired soldier looked Zen over, measuring the Stellar leader's power and secrecy with an unnerving scrutiny. "I can't tell you why. Never ask that question again."
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Zen nodded, his face expressionless, filing the harsh refusal away. He knew Kaelen's silence was a heavy secret. Every person in this training ground—Humans—is united in this shared isolation, a hidden civilization living under a perpetual threat.
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The clang of metal immediately replaced the silence of the argument. Kaelen marched to the center of the training floor and pointed his lightsaber at a section of wall that glowed faintly with embedded runes.
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"Today, we work on Superior Tactic Zero: Pure Negation," Kaelen commanded, his voice echoing in the chamber.
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"The Superiors have learned how your magic flows. When a Stellar throws a bolt, a Terra responds not with power, but with absence. They target the moment of commitment, the fraction of a second when your Stellar heart is exposed. We drill until that absence is instinctual. Zen, you will run the gauntlet with Lucy."
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He activated his own lightsaber, the humming blue blade slicing the air with frightening precision.
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"Lucy, Light Form One—full magical commitment, no holding back. Zen, you counter and finish the negation."
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Zen adjusted the grip on his own blue lightsaber. He was running the drill for the class's benefit, but for him, it was merely routine. He didn't need to fear the 'moment of commitment'; his mastery allowed him to negate any magic without effort.
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The next ten minutes were a brutal, monotonous demonstration of failure.
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Round 1: Lucy lunged, eyes blazing with a focused Stellar bolt. Zen moved. His lightsaber appeared at her throat before her magic could fully coalesce. Defeat.
Round 5: Lucy changed her rhythm, trying to catch him off guard. Zen simply waited, a statue of pure patience, and executed the counter with surgical precision. Defeat.
Round 12: Frustration bleeding into her technique, Lucy overcommitted her energy. Zen disarmed her with a flick of his wrist, the training blade spinning away. Defeat.
Round 20: Lucy was sobbing now, her chest heaving, tears leaving clean streaks through the dust and sweat on her face. Her power flickered uselessly. She threw the Lightsaber down in pure, defeated anguish.
"I—I can't do it! Why is he so fast?"
Zen stood over her, his own breathing perfectly even, his eyes devoid of pity.
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"Efficiency is the only currency the Superiors respect, Lucy. Emotion is failure." He retracted his blade.
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"Give up?" Zen asked, his voice neutral. Lucy wiped furiously at her cheeks, scrambling to regain her composure.
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"Yes, for now. But next time, I will defeat you."
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"I am always ready to fight with you, Lucy," he said, a hint of something other than coldness entering his tone. Kaelen chuckled from the sidelines, breaking the tension.
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"Aww, look at them, what a pair."
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"Master!" they both protested, their simultaneous response proving Kaelen's point.
The coldness of Zen's earlier statement hung in the air, slightly diffused by the exchange. Kaelen watched the group, his eyes—and only his eyes—betraying a flicker of satisfaction at the brutal effectiveness of the lesson. The Superior's Discipline had a master, but no one knew the full extent of the weapon he had helped forge.