The training chamber settled into a low hum after the explosion of light. Echoes of crackling energy still trembled in the air, fading into a soft shimmer that clung to the walls like a reluctant memory. Lyria blinked hard as her vision steadied. The world was outlined in faint afterglow—Kairos' glow.
She exhaled shakily. "That… that wasn't normal."
Kairos didn't answer at first. He was staring down at their still-linked hands as if they belonged to someone else. His chest rose and fell, winded not from strain but from shock.
"No," he finally said. "It definitely wasn't."
Their instructors stood frozen a few meters away, eyes sharp, whispers running through them like ripples across a pond. Even seasoned Sky Blades weren't used to seeing something unprecedented.
A Sky Blade and a Link Spark.
Two sparks that weren't supposed to mix.
Yet they did.
And the room still vibrated from the echo of what they created.
Kairos cleared his throat, trying to regain his usual calm. "Lyria… whatever happened just now wasn't only you. Or me. It was something else."
Lyria tightened her fingers nervously. She could still feel his energy thrumming under his skin—and whether it was because of the spark bond or something else entirely, she wasn't sure she liked how aware she suddenly was of him.
"I know," she said quietly. "It felt like… we weren't two sparks. Just one. For a moment."
Kairos hesitated. "Exactly."
He didn't seem frightened—more stunned, like a puzzle piece had been jammed into place without his permission and now couldn't be removed.
Instructor Veila finally strode toward them, expression unreadable but intense. "You two," she said, voice tight. "With me. Now."
A Private Assessment Chamber
The private room was carved smooth from gray stone, reinforced with containment runes and layered barrier fields. The type of place where unstable sparks were tested… or where dangerous discoveries were evaluated.
Lyria suddenly felt very, very small.
Veila crossed her arms. "We need to understand what just happened. Link Sparks normally amplify or synchronize with another spark, but they do not merge with Sky Blade energy at that magnitude." She paused. "Kairos, what did you experience?"
Kairos kept his posture straight, but his jaw clenched. "It felt like my spark extended farther than ever should be possible. And… Lyria's spark didn't just support it. It guided it through."
Veila blinked. That alone sounded impossible.
"And Lyria?" Veila asked, turning.
Lyria swallowed. "It felt like—like our energy was fitting together like edges of the same shape. Not blending, not colliding… aligning."
Veila's eyes darkened in thought. "A harmonic resonance." She paced, hands behind her back. "But not any kind. A primal resonance. That kind hasn't been documented for centuries."
Kairos stiffened. "You think this is some ancient spark lore thing?"
"I think," Veila said carefully, "that the bond between you two is not merely compatibility. It may be destiny-level."
Lyria's breath hitched. "Destiny-level? That's… a myth."
"So were Nullers once," Veila countered.
Silence. Heavy. Sharp.
The First Test
"We'll begin with controlled resonance trials," Veila said, activating the chamber's runes. "If you two truly share a deeper bond, we should see replicable effects."
Lyria and Kairos exchanged a look—half uncertainty, half something she didn't have a name for yet.
They raised their hands.
Their sparks flared.
But this time, they didn't try to force anything. They let the energy flow between them naturally—slow, steady, careful.
A soft current formed, spiraling around their joined hands like a ribbon of light.
Veila's eyes widened. "It's stabilizing on its own… You're not even pushing."
Kairos frowned. "It feels… easy."
"Too easy," Lyria added, her voice a whisper.
The energy brightened, faint at first, then growing. Not explosively—gracefully.
Veila scribbled furiously on her datapad. "This is more than resonance. This is spark interdependency. Your sparks aren't just working together—they're anticipating each other."
The light flared brighter.
Kairos' energy began shifting shape, forming feathered arcs of Sky Blade light—but without his command. Lyria's spark reacted instinctively, weaving around his blades, strengthening them, clarifying their edges.
Kairos swallowed. "It's like she's completing my spark."
Veila stopped writing.
"That's it," she said. "Exactly."
Lyria's heart fluttered, unsure whether from pride, shock, or the strange warmth that pulsed down the connection. "But why us? Why now?"
Veila didn't answer immediately.
Finally, she said, "Because some bonds aren't formed. They're awakened."
A Deeper Bond Kicks In
Trial after trial, the same pattern revealed itself.
Lyria's spark adapted to Kairos' rhythms effortlessly.
Kairos' spark instinctively shielded hers.
Not consciously.
Not deliberately.
As if they'd been designed for this.
The more they tested, the more their energies grew comfortable with each other—too comfortable.
Lyria found herself anticipating his spark shifts before he even executed them.
Kairos reacted to her spark flares with perfect timing as if the connection whispered warnings into his mind.
At one point, Kairos stepped back suddenly, breaking contact.
The energy snapped like a taut string. Lyria stumbled.
"Sorry," Kairos said quickly, catching her elbow. "That… felt weird."
"Weird how?" Veila demanded.
Kairos hesitated. "Like breaking a rhythm I didn't know I was following."
Lyria nodded slowly. "Like losing balance."
Veila stared at them both.
"I think the two of you are becoming co-dependent sparks."
Kairos' eyebrows shot up. "That sounds dangerous."
"It can be," Veila admitted. "If one of you strains too far, the other may feel it. If one destabilizes, the other may collapse." Her expression softened. "But if mastered… bonds like this are capable of legendary feats."
Lyria's pulse quickened. Legendary.
Kairos' eyes met hers, and something unresolved sparked there too.
Hope? Fear? Recognition?
Maybe all three.
The Breakthrough Moment
Hours later, Veila initiated the final trial: a synchronized barrier test.
Kairos summoned his Sky Blade field.
Lyria activated her Link Spark reinforcement.
But this time something new happened.
Instead of layering their sparks, their energies interlocked, forming a dual-layered shield with patterns that echoed both of them simultaneously—sharp angles over fluid curves, bright blue intertwined with warm silver.
Veila stared. "That's… beautiful."
Lyria felt it too.
Not just powerful.
Right.
The barrier was stronger than what Kairos could make alone.
Stronger than what Lyria could support alone.
Stronger than even a pair of top-ranked spark partners.
Kairos whispered, "This… this changes everything."
Lyria nodded, voice soft. "We're stronger together."
Veila stepped forward, expression grave but excited. "Lyria. Kairos. I don't think you understand the full scope yet." She took a breath. "You two may be the key to a new spark paradigm."
Lyria's heart skipped.
Kairos' jaw tightened—less fear, more determination.
Veila continued, "Your bond could become a weapon… or a salvation. The Nullers won't wait. And neither can we."
She met both their eyes.
"You two are no longer trainees. You are a developing dual-spark unit—perhaps the first of its kind."
Lyria's stomach flipped. She glanced at Kairos. He held her gaze steadily.
No frustration. No reluctance.
Just certainty.
"Then we train," Kairos said.
Lyria inhaled deeply.
"And we master the bond."
Something warm pulsed through the spark connection—small, but undeniable.
A flicker.
A promise.
Something more than power.
Something more than destiny.
Something that could change everything.