The morning sun barely touched the streets of Hoshino City, the air still thick with the residue of last night's chaos. Akira sat cross-legged in his room, the black pendant resting in his palm, glowing faintly as it resonated with the obsidian object beside him.
"This place… again," he muttered, his eyes narrowing as the familiar energy stirred.
He touched the black object, and in an instant, the room around him dissolved. Shadows and void swirled, and Akira was transported to the training void he had visited before. The air shimmered with latent energy, and the weight of countless past battles pressed against him.
"Old man… where are you?" Akira shouted, his voice cutting through the void.
Masahiro appeared, faint yet solid enough to guide him. "Focus, Akira. This blade… it is part of you now. Learn to move, learn to strike, and control what you inherit."
Before he could ask more, a shadow erupted from the void, faster, darker, more aggressive than any he had faced during training. Its claws gleamed with a sickly black aura, tendrils of darkness trailing behind it like smoke.
Akira's body reacted instinctively. He activated Viel Step, vanishing from one spot and reappearing behind the shadow. The air crackled with kinetic energy where he moved, leaving faint afterimages in his wake.
"This… new one, huh?" he muttered, testing the fluidity of his movement.
The shadow whirled mid-air, spinning to strike from above. Akira anticipated it, teleporting again in a blink, this time landing to the left of the attack. Every movement was seamless, a perfect combination of speed and precision.
The shadow lashed out repeatedly, claws tearing through the air, each strike followed by a pulse of shadow energy. Akira dodged, countered, and slashed in rhythm, his blade tracing arcs of shimmering black light.
The shadow's speed was relentless. It lunged, blocked, and struck again, forcing Akira to adapt on the fly. He flowed with his blade, parrying attacks with fluid elegance, striking back whenever an opening appeared.
But the shadow's power surged, its body darkening further, tendrils extending to form a whip-like strike. Its hands glowed with a purple-black light as it raised them, casting a devastating spell.
> "Grave Pulse!"
A massive wave of dark energy exploded outward, colliding with Akira in a thunderous shock. Pain lanced through his chest. He coughed blood, the force of the attack rattling his bones. The void around him cracked under the pressure. Rage flared, black energy erupting from his arm like molten fire.
His blade responded instinctively. A massive shockwave of energy radiated outward, shaking the void and sending fragments of the shadow flying in all directions.
Akira's eyes burned with fury as he gripped his sword tighter. In a sudden blur, he moved — Viel Step activated in rapid succession — weaving through the air with impossible speed. The shadow's strikes couldn't keep up. Each teleport brought Akira closer until he was directly in front of it.
With a roar that echoed through the void, Akira unleashed Eternal Sever. The sword slashed through the air, cutting a path of pure force. The energy split the shadow, burning it with a white-hot intensity. Black smoke and sparks scattered as the shadow dissolved into nothingness, leaving the void eerily silent.
Panting, Akira lowered his sword. "Old man… you've gone too far," he muttered, exhaustion and exhilaration mixing in his voice.
Masahiro appeared, calm yet observant. "This wasn't the shadow I captured. Something else… a foreign force. I sensed it as I appeared here. You obliterated it before I could intervene."
Akira looked at his blade, energy still flickering along the hilt. "I… I can feel it now. The power flowing through me."
"You're growing stronger," Masahiro said. "But control is key. Harness it, or it will consume you."
The training ground shimmered, merging back into the familiar surroundings of Akira's room. His sword transformed into the pendant, black energy retreating, his mark calming.
Far away, Ren watched from a distance. His eyes were cold, expression twisted with rage. Across the street, he saw Rina — unaware, calm — and his grip tightened.
"I'll stop you," he whispered, voice heavy with menace. A dark aura curled around him, fragments of Oblivion stirring, biding their time.
Akira, holding the pendant, felt Masahiro's presence fading, yet guiding him still. "Old man… I can't do this alone," he whispered. But deep inside, a new power had awakened, a first step into the path Masahiro had prepared.
He closed his eyes, feeling the pulse of energy through his veins. Viel Step, the shadow-like movement of teleportation, had been mastered. Eternal Sever, the power to cleave through darkness itself, had been realized.
The void pulsed faintly, reminding him that this was only the beginning. Shadows of power, fragments of ancient forces, and destinies intertwined awaited him.
The bond was fractured. The awakening had begun. And the next storm was coming.