Seijirou opened his eyes and found himself in a completely pitch-black space, but the darkness wasn't oppressive; rather, it felt like a vast, weightless vacuum, devoid of direction or temperature.
He sighed, his voice echoing in a way that suggested there were no walls for miles. "Well, this looks familiar."
He thought of the grueling, near-death training he had undergone with Retsu's grandfather.
Basically, this wasn't the first time his consciousness had been pulled into a mental landscape or a spiritual void.
And in! this world, the deeper you went into your own power, the more often you found yourself standing in the "waiting room" of the soul.
"So... you must be here, right?" Seijirou called out to the nothingness.
There was silence.
Like a long, heavy pause where even the sound of his own breathing seemed to vanish.
Then, a moment later, laughter sounded.
