Chapter 89 - 84 – Training
After two days...
The secluded forest was still. Only the cicadas hummed, their rhythm carrying into the clearing where Khael stood. Moss and mist curled around the roots, the same hidden place where only he and Master Isen ever met.
Isen stood before him, golden hair catching the shafts of light that pierced through the canopy. His calm blue eyes were sharper than any blade, yet warmer than any flame.
"Remember, Khael," Isen's tone was steady, measured. "Control is the foundation. You cannot wield what you cannot contain. Control your Shinrei… and control your emotions."
Khael lowered his head respectfully.
"Yes, Master."
He clenched his fist. His knuckles trembled—not from weakness, but from the storm he always felt within. After a pause, his voice broke the silence:
"Master… you know about Dragon Knights, don't you?"
Isen's lips curved into the faintest smile, though his gaze drifted into the distance.
"Well… my master was one of them. A Dragon Knight."
Khael's eyes widened. His thoughts swirled like leaves in wind:
(Master Yuna… the one who died. The one he… loved, but never had. His unrequited love.)
Isen, filled with seriousness said "anyway let me explain to you clearly what is Shinrei is…"
Then Isen lifted a hand, and a faint blue light pulsed from his palm. It rippled like a heartbeat, filling the clearing with soft pressure.
"This is Shinrei. The life-force of emotion itself. Every living being has it. It flows through your Vein Gates, shaped by your soul, flavored by your heart. Rage sharpens it like fire. Calm softens it like water. Despair fractures it into storm."
Khael listened, eyes narrowing.
"The more charged your emotions, the stronger the output. But beware—too much, too fast, and it twists. Shinrei without balance becomes… Madness."
Isen's light shifted colors—red flame, blue mist, crackling storm, stone-gray, pink blossom, and finally, a crawling black shade.
"Each soul is born leaning toward one of six affinities. Flame, Wave, Storm, Stone, Bloom… and the forbidden one, Shade. Your dominant emotion decides it."
Then Isen clenched his fist, and the blue light condensed into a spear of pure energy. He let it dissolve before it could strike the ground.
"From Affinity, Echo Arts are born. Unique, personal, alive. No two are ever the same, for no two emotions are the same. They evolve with your scars, with your choices, with your heart."
Khael's mind flashed back to the golden chains he conjured around Matthew, the Severing Seal biting into void. His chest tightened.
"But when emotions break you… when your Vein Gates rupture from hate, grief, or fear… your Shinrei rots."
A shadow pulsed across the clearing, as if the forest itself recoiled from his words.
"That corruption is Void. And those lost within it—become Voidborn. Not mindless, but twisted. Intelligent. Hungry. Monsters that were once like us."
Khael's jaw set, his mind flashing to Matthew's corrupted form, to the darkness that had nearly devoured them all.
Isen finally turned, tracing a circle in the air. Symbols flared to life, nine nodes in a line, each one brighter and more dangerous than the last.
"Your body carries nine Vein Gates. Think of them as thresholds. Unlocking one gives power. Opening more invites ruin."
His finger tapped each one, naming them:
Gate of Awakening – "Your first step. Where your Affinity manifests."
Gate of Resonance – "Sharper, stronger—but unstable."
Gate of Stabilization – "Balance, control, chaining."
Gate of Transcendence – "The Hybrid Shinrei, second Affinities awaken here."
Eclipse Gate – "God-tier Echo Arts… but the Void will notice you."
Rift Gate – "Illusions falter before you. Your body begins to break."
Soulbreak Gate – "Your Echo Arts act on their own. Your identity splinters."
Hollow Gate – "The end of self. Hollow Drift."
Eternity Gate…"
He stopped, the last sigil glowing faintly like a black sun.
"…Forbidden. To open it is to gamble rebirth… or fall eternally to the Void."
Khael swallowed, his fists tightening. His thoughts sharpened, cold and quiet:
"(I already knew all of this… in the manga… but hearing it from him now, it feels heavier.)"
Isen's gaze shifted, his calm eyes narrowing as if peeling back layers of Khael's soul.
"It looks like you've been hiding your Vein Gates… Tell me, Khael. How many have you unlocked?"
Khael exhaled slowly.
"Four." His eyes flickered with honesty, but also caution. "But… I'm breaking toward the fifth."
For a moment, silence hung between them. Then, a rare smile curved across Isen's face—half proud, half warning.
"Four already… and standing before the Eclipse Gate." He tilted his head slightly. "It seems you could do it. You could unlock the Fifth Gate—if you truly wished."
Khael's reply was quiet, but heavy.
"Maybe."
Isen chuckled softly, though his eyes stayed sharp. He raised a finger and tapped the side of Khael's chest—where the Vein Gates pulsed unseen.
"Always remember: control. Your emotions are not weakness—they are your Shinrei. What makes you strong can also destroy you if you forget who you are."
The forest wind stirred, carrying the faint crackle of energy from Khael's body.
Isen straightened, brushing dust from his black-and-silver robes. His calm blue eyes sharpened with a glint that made even the forest itself seem to hold its breath.
"Now…" His voice carried like a temple bell, soft yet unshakable. "…shall we start your training, my disciple?"
Khael lifted his chin, shoulders tense. His pulse quickened; he could feel his Vein Gates stirring already, like caged wolves scratching against his ribs.
"(So it begins…)," he thought.
Isen raised his hand, and the air trembled. The ground beneath their feet rippled, moss shivering as if struck by an invisible wind. A faint hum vibrated through the secluded grove—the same sacred frequency that only he and Isen shared when they trained here.
Then Isen spoke, calm but absolute:
"I will push you to the edge of your fifth Gate. Your task is simple: open it—without losing yourself."
Khael's breath caught.
"Open… the Fifth Gate? Here?!"
Isen smiled wryly, as if he had just suggested a morning walk.
"If you cannot touch the edge now, how will you ever wield it in the storm to come? Better you fall here, where I can catch you… than out there, where only the Void waits."
The words sank deep. The silence stretched heavy.
Finally, Khael nodded.
"Alright… I'll do it."
Isen's eyes softened for a heartbeat, pride flickering there, then he snapped his fingers.
The grove exploded with light.
Shinrei sigils carved themselves into the soil, glowing in ancient gold. The trees groaned, their branches bending away as if bowing to the ritual. The air thickened, hot and suffocating, until every breath tasted of raw emotion.
Isen lowered his hand.
"Begin."
Khael gritted his teeth. His Shinrei surged, storm and flame colliding in his veins, rattling his bones. The four Vein Gates inside him blazed open one by one, their resonance humming like war drums.
Gate of Awakening— his first flame.
Gate of Resonance— the storm in his blood.
Gate of Stabilization— his body strained, his pulse irregular.
Gate of Transcendence— golden chains flickered across his skin, sealing the leaks of power before they tore him apart.
Then… the fifth sigil trembled faintly in his chest, calling like a whisper from the edge of a cliff.
His vision darkened at the edges. His hands shook.
And Isen's voice cut through the roar inside his head:
"Control it, Khael. Do not let despair eat you. You command the Gate—not the other way around."
The ground cracked under Khael's knees. A surge of lightning-black Shinrei licked across his arms, veins glowing like burning wires.
He screamed—
"HAAAHHHHH—!!"
The forest split with the sound, trees bowing, leaves scattering like fleeing birds.
The Fifth Gate shivered on the brink of opening.
Isen's calm gaze never wavered.
"Good… show me, my disciple—are you the one who can walk beyond despair?"
To be continue