Three days passed.
Arin's body lay motionless on a capsule-shaped bed inside the pristine medical chamber of Capsule Corp. Blue light pulsed gently through the tubes connected to his body, healing the burns and cuts that had carved across his skin. His breathing was calm, steady—yet beneath that calm was something else. Something that made even Vegeta uneasy.
"Three days and he still hasn't woken up," Gohan murmured, looking at the readings on the monitor. "But… his energy—"
Goku nodded, his expression serious for once. "Yeah. It keeps rising. Every hour it gets stronger. Like… something inside him is eating power."
Vegeta folded his arms. "Tch. Figures. The brat's body reeks of that black energy. I told you we should've ended him before it became a problem."
Bulma, who was standing near the door, shot Vegeta a glare. "You're not killing anyone in my lab, Vegeta. Besides, if that energy is something new, I want to study it."
The room trembled suddenly. A faint pulse—dark, deep, and suffocating—rippled through the air. The lights flickered, and Gohan's eyes widened as the monitor began to spike.
"Power surge! His energy output just doubled—again!"
Inside the chamber, Arin's eyes snapped open.
Black mist swirled around his body like a living storm, pulling the light from the room. The mark on his chest—the black sigil formed when he absorbed the Demon—glowed faintly, pulsing in rhythm with his heartbeat.
> [System Notification: The Black Core has awakened.]
[Passive Effect: Qi and CP absorption doubled — +2 Qi/sec, +2 CP/sec.]
Arin gasped for air as the dark energy flooded through him, reshaping his body from within. His muscles tightened, his senses expanded, and his mind opened to something vast and alien.
He could feel everything—the pulse of the Earth, the faint trace of the black energy drifting in the air, and the slow, quiet beat of something far beyond the stars.
And then—he saw it.
A faint, obsidian sphere, floating deep within his chest. The Black Core. It pulsed with a rhythm of its own, and around it swirled streams of Qi and CP, constantly feeding it.
Only Arin could see it. No one else in the world could perceive its presence.
"Wh… what is this?" he whispered. "Why… why does it feel alive?"
The System answered.
> [Skill Unlocked: Change (Active)]
[Description: User can alter the structure of their limbs temporarily. Current adaptation: Metallic Gauntlet Form.]
Arin looked down at his hand. The flesh shimmered like mercury, reforming into a sleek, metallic gauntlet etched with faint dark lines. He clenched his fist—and the air trembled.
Outside the chamber, the Z-Fighters tensed.
"His energy just shot up again!" Gohan shouted.
Goku smiled faintly. "He's awake."
Vegeta's eyes narrowed. "Hmph. Then let's see if the kid's as dangerous as he looks."
The glass of the chamber shattered as Arin stood up. Black energy pulsed outward in waves, cracking the reinforced floor beneath him. His eyes—deep, pitch-black with a faint crimson glow—met Goku's.
For a moment, the two just looked at each other.
Then Goku grinned. "You've got some power in you, huh? Mind telling us who you are?"
Arin blinked, trying to find words. "…Arin." His voice echoed oddly, layered with the faint hum of power.
"Where… am I?"
"You're safe," Gohan said calmly. "You were hurt, and we found you. That… thing you fought is gone now."
At the mention of the Demon, Arin's gaze darkened. He remembered the fight, the terror, the feeling of the Demon's strength crashing against his—and the hunger that had followed.
His hand twitched. Shadows flickered from his fingertips before fading again.
"Gone?" he whispered. "No. It's not gone. It's inside me."
Everyone froze.
Before anyone could respond, the mark on his chest pulsed once, and for a second, a massive shadow loomed behind him—a vision of the Demon Montess, roaring soundlessly before vanishing back into the darkness.
The temperature in the room dropped.
Vegeta's aura flared instantly. "Goku. That's not human energy."
Goku's expression hardened. "Yeah… but it's not evil either. It's like it's fighting something inside him."
Arin clutched his chest, breathing heavily. The Black Core burned, whispering to him.
> [Consume. Grow. Devour the stars.]
He gritted his teeth. "No… I control you."
With a deep breath, he forced the energy to calm. The room's pressure lifted. Slowly, the lights stabilized.
Goku blinked in surprise. "He… controlled it?"
Bulma stepped forward cautiously. "Kid, I think we need to run a few tests on you."
Arin looked at his metallic hand, flexed his fingers, and let the metal fade back into skin. "I… need to understand this power first."
Vegeta snorted. "You'd better. Because if you lose control again, I won't hold back next time."
Arin gave a faint, tired smile. "I'll make sure you won't have to."
As silence settled, the System chimed once more.
> [Black Core Progression: 1%]
[Warning: Unstable growth detected.]
Arin closed his eyes. Deep down, he could feel it—the hunger, the growing pull of the darkness inside him. But he also felt strength. Real strength.
And he wasn't going to waste it.
--
Complete Chapter 6: