Riku's breathing slowed. The last of the glowing particles from the ancient machine faded into his skin, leaving only silence. Arashi looked at him with a gaze that pierced deeper than curiosity—it was purpose.
"You're not ready," Arashi finally said. "But you can be."
Riku looked up, still stunned. "What… what even am I now?"
Arashi folded his arms. "You're something the world hasn't seen before. Not just an Essence Wielder… but something else entirely. But raw potential is dangerous without control."
Riku stood up fully, the soreness in his limbs forgotten. "So what now?"
Arashi's expression hardened.
"You stay here," he said. "You train with me. Not every day—but at least three times a month. No excuses. You'll live your normal life, go back to your school, protect your family. But here—this will be where you unlock your full power. For the next four years."
"Four years!?" Riku's eyes widened.
"Do you want to become stronger than anyone alive?" Arashi asked, unmoving. "Because that kind of power doesn't come in days or months. It takes time. Discipline."
Riku looked down at his hands, still faintly glowing. He remembered Daigo's punch. Shun and Miki's kicks. The bruises. The screams. The beast. The betrayal. The loneliness.
Then he nodded.
"I'll do it."
Arashi smirked. "Good. The contract begins now."
That same night, Arashi took Riku outside to the back of the shrine. The storm had passed, leaving the earth soaked and steaming. Crickets chirped, and the moonlight filtered through thick clouds.
"This," Arashi said, raising his palm, "is the first step. You'll learn how to call on your Essence—not the borrowed fragments your enemies use—but your energy. The one sleeping inside your soul."
He drew a symbol in the dirt. "Sit here. Breathe. Focus."
Riku sat, his mind jittering with energy, but he closed his eyes.
"Feel the rhythm in your body," Arashi's voice echoed. "Hear the pulse. Your Essence is like a second heartbeat. You must learn to hear it first… before you command it."
At first—nothing.
Then, slowly—thump.Another heartbeat, deeper, heavier.
Riku opened his eyes. His hands were glowing faintly again.
"There you go," Arashi said, pleased. "That's your Core Spark. The base of your Essence. You just touched it for the first time."
Six months later.
Riku dropped into a crouch, sweat pouring down his face. His shirt was torn. The forest clearing behind the shrine had become a battlefield of training scars.
"Not bad," Arashi said. "Now again. Show me the first technique."
Riku raised his hand. In an instant, a glowing construct of digital threads spiraled around his arm, forming a blade of pure Essence.
"Pixel Slash," Riku shouted, slashing downward.
The wave of light carved through the dirt like butter.
"And the second," Arashi demanded.
Riku extended both arms, forming glowing blue sigils in the air. They hovered for a moment, then spun wildly.
"Core Lockdown."
The air around the target dummy froze—its digital signature trapped in place. Arashi nodded.
"Two techniques in six months. Not bad for a late bloomer."
Riku panted but smiled. He could feel the difference. Every week, his power grew. Every visit to the shrine, a new layer unlocked. And the whispers from the absorbed computer began to feel more like a presence, speaking with him, nudging him, preparing him.
He didn't know what he was becoming…
But he knew one thing for sure now.
He was never going to be a D-Rank again.