The pillar was a needle of black obsidian, thrust from the heart of an uncharted ocean whose waves were the color of slate and whose depths hid leviathans older than continents. Salt spray stung the air, but Kanji Naein stood unmoving, a fixed point in the chaotic seascape. Below, the water bulged and swelled, not with waves, but with the passage of immense, celestial forms. The Seven Ancient Celestial Beasts—their scales like polished constellations, their eyes like dying stars—circled the pillar's base, guardians of a secret the world had forgotten.
"Kagiroi," Kanji called out.
His voice did not rise. It was not a shout, but a statement, a fact spoken into existence that cut through the roar of the water and the low, subsonic hum of the Beasts. It was the sound of a key turning in a long-locked door.
The air before him shivered, the very light coalescing, bending, and then unfolding. A man appeared, standing effortlessly upon the empty air. His hair was long and white, a cascade of fresh snow against the grim sky. His eyes were not merely golden; they were molten, holding the captured light of a nascent star. A small, knowing smirk played upon his lips, an expression of eternal, weary amusement.
"You've been looking for me, I presume," Kagiroi said. His tone was light, almost musical, yet it carried the weight of epochs.
Kanji's own lips twisted into a mocking mirror of the other's smile. "So the dog is hiding here."
A genuine chuckle escaped Kagiroi, a sound like distant wind chimes on a forgotten temple. "And you're the ever-nosy rat, digging into burrows that don't concern you." The playful insult hung between them, a familiar, ancient dance. It was the greeting of two forces who had shaped the world, one with light, the other with shadow, bound by a history too complex for friendship or mere enmity.
---
A world away, the air was thick with the scent of damp earth and pine. The forests of the Jeimei region were a labyrinth of ancient trees and deep shadows, a place where the light fell in shattered pieces. Here, the only sounds were the rhythmic clash of steel and the sharp, focused exhalations of two figures pushing their limits.
Sarah Yamazaki moved like a phantom, her body a blur as she deflected a barrage of training orbs her System had manifested. Each parry was a calculation, each dodge a lesson in geometry. A few yards away, Kenta Yazuru was a study in contrast. His movements were not blurred by speed, but by precision. His katana, Hikari no Ha, was a ribbon of silver light, its path through the air so clean and swift it seemed to cut the very fabric of reality. He was practicing a single, perfect draw, over and over, the shing of the blade leaving its scabbard the only sound he made.
From the deep shadows of a grove of ironwood trees, two pairs of eyes observed them.
"Interesting," rumbled a deep, cheerful voice. The man was 6'1" of corded muscle, his emerald eyes sparkling with a childlike glee that belied the immense power coiled in his frame. This was Jokedone, and he leaned against a tree as if watching a particularly entertaining play. "She's the one who fought Kanji? Just a glancing blow, but still… she's got spirit. A real firecracker."
"We are here to test them, not admire them, you oaf," a sharper voice cut in. The woman, Kaguya, stood with her arms crossed. At 5'9", she was all lethal grace, her fox-like ears twitching at the sounds of the forest, her single, fluffy tail swishing with impatience. Her gaze, sharp enough to flay skin from bone, was fixed on Kenta. "Do not forget our purpose. And look at him," she added, her voice dropping to a whisper laced with something akin to reverence and suspicion. "He wields our master's legacy. He carries the blades."
Jokedone's grin widened. "All the more reason to see what they're made of."
They stepped from the tree line into the clearing. The shift in the atmosphere was instantaneous. The training orbs winked out. Sarah and Kenta spun as one, their hands flying to their weapons. Sarah's stance was low and ready, her eyes narrowed. Kenta had gone perfectly still, his hand resting on the hilt of Hikari no Ha, his expression unreadable but his focus absolute.
"No need to worry," Jokedone said, his voice a booming, disarming baritone as he raised his hands in a placating gesture. "We're just here to test you guys, that's all. Think of it as… a pop quiz from the universe!"
"Test us?" Sarah's voice was a whip-crack of suspicion. "What kind of—"
She didn't finish. There was no blur, no tell-tale shift in the air. One moment, Jokedone was twenty feet away, grinning. The next, he was directly in front of her, his expression still cheerful as he threw a single, straightforward punch.
It was not a technique. It was a fact. It was the simple, undeniable principle of a mountain deciding to move. There was no wind-up, no ki flare, only pure, condensed force that willed the space in front of it to cease existing.
Sarah's System screamed a warning a nanosecond before he moved. Her body reacted on instinct, her SS+ rank speed the only thing that saved her. She didn't jump; she was catapulted backward, the shockwave of the punch that missed her chest by inches cratering the ground where she had stood. The concussive BOOM slammed into her a moment later, rattling her teeth and sending her tumbling through the air. She landed in a crouch several yards away, her heart hammering, her arms trembling from the residual force in the air.
He's as strong as the rumors say, Kaguya thought, a flicker of cold respect in her eyes as she watched Sarah survive. She is fast. But is she worthy?
Kaguya then turned her piercing gaze to Kenta, who had not moved to help Sarah, understanding instinctively that this was two separate, simultaneous evaluations. "So," she began, her voice as cold and sharp as a shard of winter ice. "Kenta. Are you truly worthy to be the successor of our predecessor? The one deemed fit to carry the legacy of light and shadow?"
Kenta met her stare, his own resolve hardening into something unbreakable. "I am."
"Then why," Kaguya pressed, her eyes dropping to the second, still-sheathed katana at his hip—the one with the dark, rough-textured hilt that seemed to drink the light around it. "Why have you not mastered Yami no Hikari? You draw the blade of light with skill, but you treat its twin as a cursed object. A true master wields both as extensions of his own soul."
A shadow crossed Kenta's face, the first crack in his stoic armor. His grip tightened on Hikari no Ha until his knuckles were white. "The dark blade…" he began, his voice tight. "It doesn't just grant power. It… consumes. When I draw it, it's not just energy I feel. It's a rage, a bottomless void that clouds my mind and whispers to me. It shows me… everything I fear becoming. I lose myself. I lose control."
The admission hung in the air, raw and honest. It was more than a confession of weakness; it was a map of his deepest struggle.
Kaguya's expression did not soften, but it became more focused, more analytical. "Fear is the chain that binds it to you. You see the darkness as a separate thing, a beast to be caged. But it is not. It is a part of the whole, just as night is a part of the day." She took a single step forward, her tail stilling. "The previous master did not control the darkness. He accepted it. He understood that to wield true light, one must first acknowledge the shadow it casts."
Jokedone, having given Sarah a moment to recover, chuckled. "See? This is the fun part! The existential crisis before the power-up! Classic!" He then winked at Sarah. "Ready for round two, firecracker? This time, try hitting me back."
Sarah pushed herself to her feet, the initial shock replaced by a burning determination. The System was already recalibrating, analyzing the impossible physics of Jokedone's movement. She didn't know who these people were, but they were a key. A key to the kind of power that could stand beside—or against—beings like Kanji.
The test had begun, and it was no longer just a test of strength, but a forging of spirit. In a clearing in a forgotten forest, two disciples of a forgotten master were challenging the next generation, while out at sea, the two most powerful beings in existence discussed the end of the world. The echoes of a mighty legacy were stirring, and Sarah and Kenta were standing at the epicenter.