The training field lay deep in the restricted zone, a wide stretch of cracked earth surrounded by ancient containment pillars that hummed faintly with energy. Heat shimmered through the air, bending light. The faint smell of ozone and scorched stone hung everywhere.
Om Sai stood with hands in his pockets, relaxed as always, eyes half-lidded. "Alright, demon-ass," he said lazily. "Phase Two. This one's about control. Focus your energy into a single point and let it flow from your core—steady, smooth, like water. Don't rush it. Don't hold it. Screw up either way, and you'll just leak power into the air."
Arin inhaled, eyes closing. A low hum vibrated from his chest as Echo and Astra stirred together.
Om Sai continued, "I know it's hard, but—"
"I did it," Arin said suddenly.
Om Sai blinked. "…Ohh, that was fast, demon-ass."
"Hey! What's with that name? Don't call me that, asshole!"
"Then stop doing demon-shit, demon-ass."
"Fuck you!"
Om Sai smirked. "Hahaha! You should see your face right now!"
Arin rolled his eyes. "You're impossible."
Om Sai's tone shifted back to focus. "Alright, now feel both Echo and Astra. Guide them. Don't force them. Let them flow through your core to your hand, circle them—keep them apart. Don't mix them, or it'll liter—"
BOOM!
A sharp blast shook the ground. Smoke and dust rose around Arin, coughing in the center of a fresh crater.
"—ally blow up in your face," Om Sai finished. "Don't blame me, asshole. I warned you."
Arin glared, soot-covered. "You didn't finish your sentence before it happened!"
"Not my fault you're impatient."
"Go to hell."
"I probably will," Om Sai said casually. "Anyway. Astra and Echo—they're the same source but not. Think of them like a coin. One side dark, one light. Both need each other, but they never touch. Got it, bastard?"
"Yeah… got it."
"Good. Now make two half-circles that never touch, but let them pass energy between. Then shape that current—form a stone outside your palm. It'll look like fire first, but use your mind to control it."
Arin concentrated, the air humming again. "Done."
Om Sai leaned forward. "…Wait, what?"
"Done."
"Wait—what the fuck is that?"
"What do you mean?"
"That!" Om Sai pointed. "Your flame—it's black! I've seen red, yellow, gold—mine's gold by the way, rarest kind, yeah flex—but black? Never."
He grinned, intrigued. "Interesting…"
Arin studied the dark flame swirling above his palm. It didn't burn; it consumed.
Om Sai chuckled. "Alright, try to compress it into a stone while I take a nap. Oh—and don't, under any circumstances, reabsorb that mixed energy into your—"
BOOM!!!
The explosion threw dirt everywhere.
Om Sai shielded his face. "Don't you understand the fucking words coming out of my mouth!?"
Arin coughed, stumbling out of smoke. "Your fucking mouth says it too damn late! Maybe say it before the explosion, not after!"
"I said it clearly!"
"You said it while I was mid-blast!"
"You should've waited!"
"Maybe you should stop letting me explode!"
They glared at each other—faces blackened with ash, hair sticking out in random directions.
Om Sai smirked. "Look on the bright side. Your control's improving."
Arin groaned. "If this is improvement, I'd hate to see failure."
Om Sai chuckled, sitting cross-legged. "Phase Three starts tomorrow."
Arin slumped. "You're the worst teacher ever."
Om Sai grinned. "Still alive after teaching you—that's top-tier performance."
From the edge of the field, hidden behind a collapsed pillar, Shivani watched silently.
For a long moment she just observed them bickering, ash-covered, shouting insults like schoolboys. Then—unexpectedly—she laughed. A small, unguarded laugh that escaped before she could stop it.
The sound surprised even her. It was light… human. Something she hadn't heard from herself in years.
For a second, she wasn't Commander Shivani, soldier of the UAE. She was just a girl again—watching two idiots nearly blow themselves up.
Her smile faded slowly, replaced with a quiet warmth in her eyes.
He's getting stronger, she thought. But for how long will he stay the same?
She turned and walked away before either of them noticed.
Behind her, Om Sai shouted, "Hey, bastard, you owe me new eyebrows!"
And somewhere in the distance, Shivani's soft laughter carried on the wind.
After hours of trying
The sun was sinking low over the cracked training field, painting everything in deep orange and fading gold. Four hours had passed since Om Sai had announced "just one more try" and promptly fallen asleep sitting up, snoring softly, his head tilted back like a lazy cat basking in the last light.
Arin sat cross-legged on the dirt, trying to hold the new stone together with energy alone. Each time it cracked, his patience thinned.
He glanced at Om Sai, still dead asleep.
A vein twitched on Arin's forehead. "That useless bastard…"
He spotted a small insect crawling across the ground near his boot. Without thinking, he picked it up between two fingers—and flicked it straight into Om Sai's open mouth.
Om Sai jolted upright, gagging. "Wha— the FUCK!?"
Arin burst out laughing, rolling backward onto the dirt. "You should've seen your face, old man!"
Om Sai wiped his mouth, glaring. "You demon-ass—I'll kill you!"
"Yeah, yeah, get in line," Arin grinned, tossing something toward him.
Om Sai caught it out of instinct. The moment his eyes focused, his expression changed.
It was a stone. Not ordinary—dark, smooth, faintly trembling with energy. A deep black, yet somehow glowing, like it pulled in light only to release a darker hue from within.
"What the… fuck…" Om Sai whispered. "How can a black stone glow? That's impossible. Black absorbs, it doesn't emit. Is it glowing, or spreading its own darkness?"
He turned the stone over in his hand, the surface whispering faint static across his palm. "Anyway… good job, kid. Not bad, demon-ass."
"Yeah," Arin said, smiling faintly. "I was shocked too. I mean, black things can't glow. It shouldn't be possible."
Om Sai nodded slowly, eyes narrowing. "Yeah, interesting indeed…"
Then he looked at Arin—and froze.
For just a heartbeat, Arin's eyes weren't their usual blue-green. They were black. Not empty, but dense, like staring into a hole that wanted to swallow everything.
A faint pulse of shadow rippled through the air between them.
Om Sai blinked— —and it was gone. Arin's normal eyes stared back, confused.
"What?" Arin asked. "Why are you looking like you saw a ghost, lazy-ass?"
Om Sai rubbed his face. "Yeah… your face was like a ghost, demon-ass. Creepy shit. Anyway—let's go get something to eat before my stomach starts eating itself."
Arin shrugged, grabbing his jacket. "Fine by me, boss. But I'm not paying."
Om Sai turned with a lazy grin. "Then good luck finding another ride, freeloader."
Arin smirked, already walking ahead. "Then goodbye, lazy-ass."
"I was joking, you asshole!"
Their bickering echoed down the long stone corridor leading out of the training zone—half argument, half laughter. The tension that had weighed them for days lifted just a little, carried away on the wind.
But behind them, still lying half-buried in the cracked dirt, the black stone pulsed faintly—its glow now heartbeat-slow. Almost alive.