The midday sun bore down on the training grounds, but none of the three trainees flinched. Dust swirled around them as they stood in a loose triangle, sweat already beading down their foreheads. Hagan paced in front of them, his arms crossed, posture sharp as ever.
"You three have done well this past week. By now, your bodies should be adjusting to the intensity of the training. You might've even noticed it's becoming easier to gather your Ember into your center point."
Enryu, Sayo, and Niko exchanged quick glances—silent affirmations of the subtle changes they'd been feeling.
"Today," Hagan continued, "I'll show you how to use the excess Ember flowing through you to strengthen your body. It's a long process, especially since you're still forming your halos. But once your halos are fully developed, you won't have to scrape for stray embers. Any Ember circulating within you will be fair game."
Enryu tilted his head. "So it'll make us stronger?"
"Sort of," Hagan replied. "It enhances durability in the area you focus on. But depending on how you apply it, it can become an offensive weapon too. Like this."
Without another word, he bent his knees and launched himself skyward.
He soared—ten meters up, maybe more.
All three trainees gawked, their thoughts striking in unison: Woah.
Hagan landed with a thud, not even winded.
"I directed my Ember to the soles of my feet," he explained, brushing off his coat. "That is what allowed the sudden boost from under me. Now it's your turn."
The trio nodded and closed their eyes, each of them beginning the process of channeling Ember downward.
It's different than drawing Ember to my midpoint, Enryu thought, brows furrowed in concentration. It felt natural going there—but this... it's like pushing against a current. And it's farther, too.
He focused harder, the burning sensation trickling down his legs.
There… I think I've got it.
"Go!"
Hagan's voice sliced through the silence, and the three leapt.
Sayo cleared two and a half feet, her expression radiant with pride.
Niko went higher—almost a meter and a half. His usual stoicism cracked into a rare smile.
But it was Enryu who soared beyond expectation, hitting four meters with a sharp, clean rise.
When he landed, Hagan was already watching him, eyes narrowed in faint amusement.
"You're all fast learners," Hagan said, nodding with approval. "But Enryu—you especially. You're... loved by Ember."
"'Loved'?" Enryu asked, brushing off his pants. "What do you mean?"
Hagan didn't answer immediately. His gaze lifted to the sky for a moment, then settled back on Enryu with a thoughtful look.
"It's rare," he said finally. "But sometimes, Ember responds to someone like it remembers them or reminds them of something. Like there's a familiarity—something old and rooted deep. And when that happens, Ember doesn't just respond. It opens itself. It opens itself. It lets them draw on its full strength and depth more freely.
Enryu blinked, caught between wonder and confusion. But there was something in his stance—steadier now—that hinted he understood, even if only a little.
"The three of you shouldn't get a big head," Hagan said, arms crossed. "You've still got a long way to go."
His voice was sharp, cutting through the lingering fatigue in the air.
"The last thing you'll be working on today is maintaining a constant flow of Ember into the soles of your feet. You might've picked up on how to move it once quickly—but when it comes to running or jumping in quick succession, you'll need to keep that flow steady."
He paced slowly in front of them.
"Every time you channel Ember to your soles, you jump. Then again. The interval between your jumps is what we're focusing on. Once you can do it every ten seconds, you're done for the day."
30 Minutes Later
Enryu collapsed onto his back with a loud exhale. "Finally… we're done," he groaned.
Niko sat down beside him, wiping sweat from his brow. "That was way harder than I thought it'd be," he muttered. "It's like going on an expedition somewhere far off—just to get teleported right back to the start… and then doing it again."
Sayo let out a breath and nodded. "Yeah… it was really difficult. You two didn't have to wait on me."
Enryu turned his head toward her, grinning. "Of course we did. We're friends. What's an adventure without them?"
Niko raised an eyebrow. "An adventure? Since when did we start one?"
Enryu sat up, eyes gleaming. "Well, since we're all training together, I think this is the perfect starting point. You know? I heard that adventures aren't about where you go, but what you experience… the people you meet, and what you learn along the way."
He smirked, lowering his voice as he threw a side-eye toward Hagan. "And this is definitely one HELL of an experience."
That was all it took—Niko and Sayo burst out laughing, unable to hold it in.
Niko wiped a tear from his eye. "Yeah, I guess that makes sense. Let's start our adventure then."
Later That Night
Enryu tossed and turned in bed as his mind wandered.
He was flying through a vivid blue sky, soaring with Niko and Sayo. Laughter echoed in the wind. Then, suddenly, he fell.
He plummeted into the ocean below, screaming as water rushed up to meet him.
Darkness swallowed everything.
He sat alone in an endless black void, terrified.
Then, ahead, a door of pure light appeared.
He walked toward it, hesitating only a moment before stepping through.
What met him was horror.
War.
Thousands of Veilburns clashed with human soldiers. The humans barely held the line, but the cost was unimaginable: screams, blood, and agony.
Enryu's stomach churned.
He turned away and ran, toward another door that appeared in the distance. Flinging it open, he found something worse.
A second army of Veilburns, vastly more dangerous, loomed behind an invisible barrier. They stood in silence, as if waiting for something to be released.
At the front stood one of them—its very presence suffocating. It locked onto Enryu's gaze, It's emerald green eyes 'like hollow pits, devoid of light. It felt ancient. Evil.
Enryu froze. It sees me.
A third door appeared.
He ran.
Inside the final realm stood a man with snow-white hair and eyes like black holes, struggling with every ounce of his being to hold apart what looked like two collapsing realities.
He screamed, muscles tearing, holding the realms back.
Enryu gasped. Is he the one keeping them out? Those monsters?
They can't enter our world. Especially that one... just its presence alone would destroy everything.
I'm scared. I want to go home.
The white-haired man turned his head, locking eyes with Enryu. A single tear fell.
His arms tore apart.
And then came the emerald eyes again.
Enryu woke in a cold sweat.
"What... what was that? A dream? No... that was a nightmare. But it felt real."
His door burst open.
"Enryu! Everything alright?" Hagan stepped in.
"Just... a nightmare. It felt so real. There was war, death, something worse waiting behind it all. One of them saw me. He was different. Stronger. Evil. Then there was a man with white hair... he was holding something back. Holding it all back. And when he failed, that... thing's eyes appeared again."
Hagan sighed, scratching his head. "You've got one wild imagination. Never ceases to impress."
Enryu looked down. "Yeah... maybe. Still felt real, like a warning. But that's impossible, right?"
"No kid, it's not real. Just your mind playing tricks. None of that has anything to do with us. Just a dream. Now get ready. Training's going to be intense today."
Enryu slowly nodded, forcing the dream from his mind. "Yeah... alright."
After three long, grueling months of relentless training, the sun dipped low over the horizon, casting golden light through the open window of a quiet, solitary cabin. Inside, Sensei Hagan sat alone, arms folded, his sharp eyes reflecting both pride and contemplation.
Those three... they're prodigies in their own right, he mused silently, watching dust particles drift lazily in the amber glow. Each one of them has already mastered the foundations of Ember control—defense and offense. It's almost unnatural how fast they've grown.
Sayo... her intuition and sense of Ember is near flawless. She feels it like a second heartbeat.
Niko... his comprehension is unmatched. He sees patterns, principles—like he's studied it for years.
And Enryu... his control. It's precise, almost surgical. Like Ember obeys him before he even commands it.
He leaned back, a slow breath escaping him as a thought stirred in his mind.
It might be time for them to—
A sharp knock at the door cut through his thoughts.
Hagan's expression hardened. He rose swiftly and pulled the door open, only to be met with the ashen face of Mother Selene. Her eyes, wide with panic and dread, darted up to meet his.
"Niko's gone," she breathed, voice trembling with urgency.