The whispers were what Kai found truly disturbing.
They surrounded him at all times.
From the hallways of Shinjuku Academy.
From the gymnasiums.
From the busy dining rooms.
Whispers that were too soft but too loud for comfort.
"Look, it's him."
"The guy who caused havoc at Arena Gamma."
"Said that half the second-years couldn't even get up."
Kai walked among them without responding.
Though he listened intently to their whispers.
At Shinjuk Academy, power reigned supreme.
Ego was the currency of this place.
But Kai's Ego transcended all that.
No one could comprehend its nature.
Former classmates shunned his table completely.
When Kai walked down the hallways, others moved out of his way because his mere presence was a menace to them.
He was no ordinary freshman anymore.
No, he was an anomaly.
A young man whose Ego could crush steel and rock without any warning signs.
A young man who almost killed several students with a random surge of his willpower.
And while Shinjuku Academy had been built around nurturing power…
Now, it treated Kai as a problem that had to be contained.
His new timetable was extremely short.
Too short for Kai's taste…
Where others had combat training sessions, tactics discussions, and dueling sessions…
Kai had just one entry listed next to his name.
Special Training.
Location: Sublevels.
Nothing sinister about the name.
Everyone understood what it really meant.
Isolation.
Sublevel of the academy was cold and dead.
Windows? Decoration?
Just thick metal walls and one chair in the middle.
Kael Tenebris waited, arms crossed.
"Take seat."
Kai sat.
Behind him closed heavy doors with a dull clang.
Tenebris regarded him without a word.
"You believe that your power is a weapon."
Voice was cool, deep.
"I am afraid I have to tell you, but you are mistaken."
Kai did not answer.
"A weapon implies a direction. An intent." The master continued.
Tenebris took a step forward.
"The force you are in possession of resembles a bomb rather."
Pause.
"Your fear is the fuse."
Fear.
The feeling rose from Kai's core.
Tenebris' Ego was active.
Not attacking.
Not storming.
Just spreading throughout the room like shadow.
Room disappeared.
Rain.
Garbage.
Wet streets.
Nausea.
Back alley.
Memory came rushing back at once.
Narrow alley lit up by a single flickering bulb.
Man approaching with knife in his hands.
Brother's shout.
Tenebris said calmly.
"Feel it."
Man attacked.
"Terror in your heart."
The blade flashed.
"The helplessness."
Kai's breath caught.
"And the rage."
The familiar pressure built inside him.
That colorless force.
That silent scream of Ego trying to erupt.
His hands trembled violently.
"That moment," Tenebris said quietly, "was when your will collapsed."
The power surged.
Wild.
Panicked.
Desperate to break free.
CRACK.
Kai opened his eyes.
The illusion shattered.
The chamber returned.
Fragments of glass fell from his hands.
The sphere had broken again.
Tenebris stared down at the shards.
"Pathetic."
Kai lowered his head.
"You let a memory control you."
Another sphere landed in his lap.
"We begin again."
While Kai endured Tenebris' training below the academy, Hizume had disappeared into the archives.
The records hall was enormous.
Tall shelves filled with decades of reports, mission records, and Ego research documents.
Most students came here to study tactics.
Hizume came here to hunt answers.
Scroll after scroll passed through her hands.
Every report mentioning unusual Ego manifestations.
Every document tied to abnormal techniques.
Every sealed case she could legally access.
Hours passed.
And every path ended the same way.
A dead end.
Files referencing Primal-Type Egos were incomplete.
Whole sections missing.
Reports abruptly ending.
Entire case studies sealed under the Headmaster's authority.
Hizume adjusted her glasses slowly.
"So that's how it is."
She closed the final document.
"It's not an anomaly."
Her voice echoed quietly between the shelves.
"It's something they buried."
If the academy wouldn't explain Kai's power…
Then someone else would have to uncover it.
That evening, Kai arrived at one of the smaller training gyms.
His body felt hollow.
Tenebris' training didn't leave bruises.
But it drained something deeper.
Soren was already there.
Standing near the sparring mat.
Wrapping cloth around his hands.
He didn't greet Kai.
He didn't smile.
He looked like someone preparing for a fight.
"Tenebris is working on your head," Soren said without looking up.
Kai nodded weakly.
Soren tossed him a pair of gloves.
"I'm working on the rest."
Kai caught them.
"Soren… I don't think this is—"
"Don't use your Ego."
The words cut him off immediately.
Kai blinked.
"That's the rule."
Soren stepped onto the mat.
"No techniques."
"No Ego."
"Just fight."
Kai hesitated.
Soren's eyes narrowed.
"What? Scared you'll accidentally level the building?"
Kai slowly stepped forward.
The spar began.
It wasn't close.
Without his Ego, Kai was clumsy.
Slow.
Hesitant.
Every movement carried the weight of restraint.
Every punch stopped halfway before it could land properly.
Soren had no such hesitation.
He sidestepped Kai's weak strike and drove his fist into Kai's ribs.
The impact forced the air from Kai's lungs.
A moment later, Soren swept his leg.
Kai hit the floor hard.
"Get up."
Kai coughed.
"I'm trying."
"No, you're not."
Soren's voice was sharp.
Angry.
"You're terrified."
Kai pushed himself onto his elbows.
Soren gestured toward him.
"You're scared of what's inside you."
He clenched his fists.
"Good."
A pause.
"So am I."
Kai looked up in surprise.
"But you're also scared of this."
Soren raised his fists.
"The real fight."
Kai didn't respond.
Soren's voice softened slightly.
"You can't just be a shield, Kai."
He stepped back.
"You need to learn how to be a fist."
He pointed to the mat.
"Now get up."
Kai slowly stood.
His body hurt.
His mind felt numb.
But he raised his gloves again.
Days passed.
Each one blurred into the next.
Morning.
Tenebris forcing him to relive the alley again and again.
Afternoon.
Hizume buried in sealed records and unanswered questions.
Evening.
Soren breaking down his body with relentless sparring.
Kai felt like he was being dismantled piece by piece.
Mind.
Past.
Body.
Everything stripped apart.
He sat once more in the dark chamber.
The glass sphere rested in his hands.
The illusion returned.
Rain.
The alley.
The man with the knife.
The surge of power.
Tenebris' voice echoed.
"Your fear is the problem."
Soren's voice followed.
"You have to be a fist."
Hizume's quiet words lingered.
"They're hiding something."
The man lunged.
The familiar pressure exploded inside Kai's chest.
The sphere began to crack.
CRACK.
Kai's hands trembled.
No.
Not again.
This time, he didn't close his eyes.
He didn't suppress the memory.
He looked straight at it.
The knife.
The fear.
His brother standing in front of him.
He accepted it.
The terror.
The guilt.
The rage he had buried for years.
Instead of forcing the power down—
He let it flow.
Inside his mind, the colorless storm roared.
But for the first time…
It didn't control him.
He stood at the center of it.
The illusion flickered.
Then vanished.
Kai opened his eyes.
The chamber returned.
Tenebris stood in front of him, watching silently.
Kai's body was shaking.
Sweat soaked his clothes.
Slowly…
He opened his palm.
The glass sphere remained there.
A thin crack ran across its surface.
But it hadn't broken.
Tenebris raised an eyebrow.
For a brief moment, something like interest appeared in his expression.
"So."
He turned toward the door.
"You finally stopped running."
He paused before leaving.
"You held it for one second."
The door opened.
Tenebris stepped out.
"Tomorrow," he said without turning around,
"You'll hold it for two."
The door shut behind him.
Kai remained in the silent chamber.
Staring at the cracked sphere in his hand.
For the first time since arriving at Shinjuku Academy…
His power hadn't escaped him.
And that single second felt heavier than every battle he had ever fought.