Arthev sat cross-legged on the broken jade floor, his hands resting on his knees. The air grew still around him. For a long time, nothing happened.
Then, a flare of scarlet light burst from his body. His soul power, refined by recent battles, surged through him. It was no longer wild, but focused, flowing through his meridians with a contained heat. A low vibration filled the air.
With a sound like cracking ice, his first soul ring shattered. The violet light swirled and then solidified again, now a deep, steady crimson. Within it pulsed the mark of Shukaku, the One-Tail, a contained weight of ancient rage.
A second light bloomed from his core. This new energy swirled like molten rock, pulling itself together until it formed a second crimson ring. It hovered above the first, pulsing with a heat that made the very air in the cavern waver.
Through it all, Arthev did not move. His eyes remained closed, his breathing slow and even.
Then, the world dissolved.
Arthev's subconscious plane stretched out, a silent sea of black glass under a blank sky. On its surface, the massive form of Shukaku waited.
Suddenly, the water trembled.
Ripples spread as a new presence emerged from the misty horizon. It was Matatabi, the Two-Tailed Beast Cat. She moved with a hunter's grace, her body sleek and powerful. Blue flames flickered along her fur, and her twin tails left trails of sapphire light in the air. Where her paws met the glassy sea, they left glowing, warm footprints. Her ancient golden eyes settled on Shukaku.
Shukaku rolled onto one elbow with a grunt. "So. The cat finally shows up."
Matatabi's tails gave a slow, deliberate flick. "It is not about showing up, brother. It is about recognition.He is ready now."
"He was ready before," Shukaku snorted. "He is just slow."
Between them, Arthev's form solidified. He stepped forward..
"Matatabi," he said, his voice steady. "It is good to meet you."
Her flames banked slightly, a sign of grace. "Your voice carries respect. That alone proves much . You seem to understand that power requires something in return."
"I do," Arthev replied. "I am not here to chain you. I am here to carry the power with honor."
Matatabi inclined her head. One of her massive tails curled around her paws.
"Then you may carry my power."
The glassy sea shimmered as a stream of blue energy flowed from her. It wound around Arthev's spiritual form, a ribbon of sapphire light that seeped into his core. He felt a surge of heat, different from any fire he had known, as the second soul ring solidified within him.
He met her gaze. "What powers does this bring?"
Matatabi took a step forward. The energy around her rippled, not like soft flame, but with a sharp, electric hum.
"You now carry my soul ring," she said, her voice calm and clear. "My power, at its peak, rivals a Level 96 Titled Douluo. This is not borrowed strength. It is a legacy. It can only be mastered through understanding."
Arthev nodded slowly, feeling the intense, unfamiliar heat. "I understand. Your legacy is one of supreme fire. The stories I knew never captured it."
A silence hung between them. Matatabi's golden eyes held his.
"Fire is a generous but incomplete word," she corrected gently. She leaned forward, and the blue energy around her crackled, sharp and intense. "I am not a creature of mere flame, Arthev. I am a being of plasma. The fourth state of matter. The substance that constitutes the heart of every star that burns in the cosmos. What you see as 'fire' is just the outer edge of my essence, superheating the air around it."
Arthev's mind raced. Plasma. Fragments of half-remembered physics lessons from a distant life surfaced: Solid, liquid, gas... plasma. A superheated, ionized gas, a sea of charged particles.The raw stuff of suns and lightning. It was infinitely more potent, more fundamental. Now his understanding of the Two-Tails shattered and reformed in an instant.
A snort came from the side. "Took you long enough," Shukaku grumbled, crossing his sandy arms. "All that time calling her the 'Two-Tails' and you never wondered why her 'fire' didn't act like fire? It's star-stuff. Not campfire kindling."
Matatabi let out a sigh, a wisp of energy curling from her nostrils. "Shukaku. Must you always be so abrasive? The revelation is for him to process."
"He processes faster without the cryptic talk," Shukaku retorted, though his bluster seemed habitual. He settled back with a scowl. "Just get on with it."
"Your concern is noted," Matatabi said, her tone serene but final. She turned back to Arthev. "Pay his manner no mind. His heart is often louder than his head."
Shukaku muttered under his breath but fell silent, watching from the sidelines.
"Now," Matatabi continued. The energy around her brightened into a steady, brilliant mantle of blue-white light, humming with a clean, intense heat. "Two gifts, born of my essence. They are woven not from simple destruction, but from mastery."
"The first," she said, "is called Stellar Blaze. Think of it as a spiritual nucleus, a seed of my true power planted within your soul. It grants you sovereignty not over simple flame, but over the fundamental energy of a star's heart. You will learn to shape plasma."
A tendril of blue-white energy spiraled from her, brushing against Arthev's spiritual form. It didn't just feel hot; it hummed with a fierce, vibrant power, carrying a sharp scent of ozone and a sound like constant, distant crackling. The heat was dry and intense, purer than any fire.
"You may see it as flame," Matatabi continued, her golden eyes noting his reaction. "But it is the fourth state of matter. It burns hotter and cuts deeper than any ordinary fire. You can launch it as concentrated projectiles, shape it into shields or blades. It will sear through physical matter and burn away spiritual poisons with absolute finality. Nothing impure can withstand it."
Arthev absorbed this, the scope of the power settling heavily upon him. It was both a weapon and a tool of purification, vast and demanding.
"And the second?" he asked, his voice quiet with newfound respect.
To be continued ...