(Recap): Shadow (Kageyama Shiro) exposed his rare Void Aura after instinctively nullifying a powerful Spectre's attack in his classroom. He has been immediately taken into custody by the Wardens, the government's anti-Spectre force, to be processed and interrogated.
The inside of the Warden transport vehicle was an echo chamber of highly contained, disciplined Aura. Every surface, from the reinforced metal walls to the cool, gel-filled restraints on Shadow's wrists, pulsed with a uniform, low-frequency Amber Aura of Caution and Control. It was the opposite of the chaotic energy Shadow was used to seeing, and it was suffocating.
The lead Warden, the woman with the sharp features and the unyielding Amber Aura, sat across from him. Her name was Lieutenant Akane.
"Kageyama Shiro," she said, her voice dry as static. "Your file stated you showed no prior aptitude for Aura Weaving. You were assessed as a civilian anomaly—high intellect, low physical score, no discernible energy signature. An empty set."
Shadow kept his gaze on the swirling Cerulean Aura pattern she was subtly weaving into the floor plating—a complex lock that would trigger an energy pulse if he moved. "The file was accurate. Until moments ago, I did not possess an active energy signature. I possess the potential for a Void Aura. It's not a color, but the nullification of all color."
Akane leaned forward, her Amber Aura intensifying. "We saw your nullification. The Fomorian Spectre was an equation of pure, malignant \text{Rage} \times \text{Paranoia}. You inserted an illogical variable—nothing—and it dissolved. It was an elegant, unprecedented calculation."
"Elegance is efficiency," Shadow replied, his voice flat. "The most efficient path to solving that equation was setting the coefficient of the Specter's Will-to-Exist to zero."
"You are a terrifying mind," Akane conceded, though it wasn't a compliment. "But the Echo Labyrinth requires more than mind. It requires Echo Resonance. You must draw raw power, emotion, and memory from the Labyrinth itself. That requires feeling, Shiro. And your Aura of Void suggests you feel absolutely nothing."
The vehicle hissed to a stop beneath a brutalist megastructure hidden deep beneath the city's financial district. This was the Chrysalis, the main base of the Wardens.
The Simulation Bay
Shadow was led into a large, cold room lined with crystalline projectors. His restraints were removed. A short, muscular man with a thick, volatile Crimson Aura and a permanent scowl stood waiting. This was Ryuji, the combat instructor.
"The nullification was a fluke," Ryuji grunted, his Aura radiating pure skepticism. "You survived by accident. The Labyrinth doesn't care about your high school math scores. It cares about guts."
Ryuji stepped into the center of the bay. The projectors flared, and the crystalline structure of the room's walls shimmered. The reality around them warped, replicating a section of the chaotic Echo Labyrinth.
"This is a low-level simulation," Ryuji explained. "I want you to use your Void trick. Nullify this."
He raised his hand. His Crimson Aura pulsed violently, and he drew on the simulated environment. The air crystallized around his fist, forming a tangible weapon—a jagged, two-meter-long blade of sheer, volatile Force.
"This is the simplest form of Echo Resonance," Ryuji roared. "I pulled the Echo of Pure Momentum from the Labyrinth. It is raw, unthinking power. Now, nullify it, genius."
Ryuji charged. He was fast, but to Shadow, he was a predictable line of energy.
Shadow closed his eyes, his mind working at light speed. He didn't focus on the blade of Crimson Aura. He focused on the Echo that created it.
The equation for an Echo is Raw Aura × Labyrinth Memory = {Manifestation}. To nullify the blade, I must nullify the Memory component, not the raw Aura itself.
He pushed his Void Aura out, targeting the point where Ryuji's Aura connected to the Echo.
Success requires a precise point of insertion: the nexus of the Resonance.
His Void hit the nexus perfectly. For a split second, the Crimson blade flickered, and the concept of Momentum in that localized space wavered.
"Got him!" Shadow muttered.
But the effect was only momentary. The blade, fueled by sheer, visceral emotion, roared back to life with terrifying speed.
CLANG.
The flat of the Crimson blade slammed into Shadow's shoulder, throwing him against the wall. A shock of profound pain—physical, mental, and emotional—rippled through him. He tasted blood, and his head spun.
"You're too slow, smart boy!" Ryuji sneered, dropping the Resonance. "You try to dissect the bomb instead of defusing it! The Labyrinth is pain, not a puzzle!"
Akane stepped forward, her Amber Aura cold and analytical. "He's right, Shiro. You nullified a conceptual layer of the Echo. That requires micro-second precision. You will never win a fight with calculation alone."
"Then I must increase my processing speed," Shadow mumbled, pushing himself up, ignoring the burning agony in his shoulder.
"No," Akane countered, her eyes narrow. "You must increase your Resonance. To tap into the Labyrinth's power, you need a hook—a strong emotional tether. Pain is the strongest tether. It generates extreme, focus-inducing Aura."
She nodded to Ryuji. Ryuji grinned, and his Crimson Aura spiked with malicious intent.
"The next lesson is not about Weaving," Akane stated. "It's about Resonance. It's about surviving."
Ryuji charged again, not with a manifested blade, but with a pure, focused torrent of Crimson Aura, meant to overload Shadow's senses with pain and fear. The air around them grew hot and heavy.
Shadow felt the crushing force approaching. He saw the equation for his failure: {Ryuji's Force} > {Shadow's Processing Speed}. He needed a powerful, immediate variable to balance it.
But he had no feelings. No fear. No rage. Only the dull, cold Void.
As the Crimson torrent hit him, Shadow did not scream. He didn't fight. He let the pain wash over him, letting the extreme agony of the Echo of Pure Momentum that Ryuji had summoned etch itself into his mind.
Pain is a data point. Pain is a perfect, repeatable equation.
His colorless Void Aura suddenly flickered with the faintest speck of Cerulean. It was an echo of logic, a desperate attempt to categorize the pain.
"He's analyzing the Resonance," Akane murmured, fascinated. "He's not reacting; he's profiling the pain as an equation. Unprecedented."
Ryuji pulled back, breathing heavily. Shadow lay on the floor, bleeding from his mouth, his clothes torn, but his eyes were wide and focused.
He had failed the test, but he had gathered data. His path to becoming a Weaver would not be based on emotion, but on using his Cerulean intellect to weaponize the raw data of the Labyrinth itself.
He had learned the logic of pain.