05:00 AM. The base was still asleep. At least the part that could afford the luxury of sleep. I stood in front of the heavy steel gate of Sector 4. The air in the lower levels was cold, almost icy. There was no heating down here, only the waste heat of the machines that pulsed through the walls. The gate opened exactly on the second. There was no futuristic whirring like up there with Echo. Only the rough, dull sound of steel grinding on steel.
Rioji stood in the middle of the huge, dirty training room. He was alone. He wore a simple, black tank top that fit tightly. The Yakuza tattoo on his right arm, black dragon scales that turned into demon faces, seemed to breathe in the pale light of the emergency lighting. He did not look like a teacher. He looked like an executioner waiting for his last customer.
"You are on time," he said without turning around. His voice echoed from the bare metal walls. "Perhaps not all is lost yet."
I stepped closer. My steps echoed loudly on the grid floor. "I am here to learn."
Rioji turned around slowly. His gaze was empty and cold.
"Learning? Forget that school bench talk. I will now explain to you why you almost died in the fight against Solis. And why you are currently more worthless than the dirt under my fingernails. If you do not understand this, you will simply burst next time."
He flicked his fingers. A massive hologram flared up in the middle of the room. It bathed his scarred face in blue light.
Part 1: The Ladder into the Abyss (The Ranks)
The hologram showed a pyramid. Four steps. Four levels of power.
"Listen carefully, stick figure. I will explain it to you so that even a brain dead person understands it. Resonance is not magic. It is energy, and your body is the conductor. If you hunt too much current through a cheap cable, the insulation burns out."
He stepped to the hologram and pointed to the broad base of the pyramid.
LEVEL 1: SHODAN The Spark "This is the bottom. The beginning. A Shodan has awakened the resonance within himself. He feels it. He can perhaps let it flash briefly." He looked at me with contempt. "A Shodan is like a toddler with a flamethrower. He can pull the trigger, yes. But he has no idea where he is aiming. He has power, but no form. Most street rats who happen to have a talent get stuck here. They burn out or kill themselves."
LEVEL 2: NIDAN The Form He pointed to the middle step. "This is where it gets interesting. Nidan. The advanced one. A Nidan has learned to isolate the current. He no longer wastes energy. He shapes it. He develops techniques." He pointed to the door behind which the quarters lay. "My people, Zayne, Utak, Lynora, they all master Nidan. Solis, the bastard who beat you up? Nidan. They are deadly because they know their limits. They are not gods, but they are damn efficient soldiers."
LEVEL 3: SANDAN The Flow Now ambition sparkled in Rioji's eyes. He touched the third step. "That is the league of the greats. Sandan. The master. A Sandan no longer thinks. The resonance is as natural as breathing. Echo. Avaris. Selene. Me." He clenched his fist, and the air around him began to flicker without him exerting himself. "We do not have to concentrate. We are the weapon. A Sandan can tear down an entire city block while drinking coffee. The difference between Nidan and Sandan is not just power. It is instinct."
LEVEL 4: SHINSEI The Anomaly Then, the top. The fourth level was not just a bar. It was a shining light symbol that pulsed. Rioji fell silent. He stared at the symbol as if he hated it. "And then there is this. Shinsei. The Saint." He spat the word out like poison. "It is a myth. An anomaly. It is said that a Shinsei has no limits. Pure, white power. Godlike. But let me tell you one thing: Just because the system says you are a Shinsei, you are not a god yet."
Part 2: The Spectrum of Blood The Colors
He let go of me and swiped his hand through the air. The hologram changed. It now showed a human body crossed by glowing nerve paths and blood vessels. Four colors pulsed around it.
"The Celestia test did not measure how strong you are. It measured your frequency. Your color. And this color is no coincidence. It is based on a biological principle."
He pointed to the first color.
🔴 RED: KŌTAI The Principle of Ignition The hologram turned blood red. The muscles of the virtual body swelled, steam rose. "Red. Kōtai. The physical resonance. The principle here is ignition. The resonance ignites your cells. It burns your own blood sugar and your adrenaline to create explosive power." He grinned humorlessly. "Solis is a Red. Utak, my little tank, is a Red. Echo is a Red. They are fast, they are hard, they break bones. But their disadvantage? They burn out quickly. When they have no more energy, they are just meat."
🔵 BLUE: UNDŌ The Principle of the Vector The hologram became cool and blue. Objects around the body began to float, lines showed directions of movement. "Blue. Undō. The kinetic resonance. The principle is the vector. These people manipulate the direction and force of energy outside their bodies. They redirect force, they move objects." He nodded slightly, almost appreciatively. "There is a boy out there, a damn natural talent. A Blue. He doesn't even touch you, and you fly through the wall because he uses your own movement against you. Kael from the Third Division is another one like that. They don't have to be strong. They just have to understand physics."
🟣 VIOLET: SEISHIN The Principle of Dimension The hologram flickered violet. The space around the model's head seemed to distort. "Violet. Seishin. The mental resonance. But don't let them tell you that this is just mind reading. The principle is dimension. They intervene in levels that we cannot see." Rioji distorted his face. "The most dangerous category. Avaris is a Violet. He doesn't play with illusions. He reaches into the fourth dimension, time. He manipulates the flow of reality around him. He doesn't just slow you down in your head, he slows down your atoms. Avaris' right hand, Siona, uses sound waves to break frequencies. They are dangerous because you don't see them coming."
🟢 GREEN: SHIZEN The Principle of Binding The hologram became emerald green. It seemed to merge with the air itself. "Green. Shizen. The elemental resonance. The principle is binding. They connect their resonance with the matter around them. With the air, the ground, the molecules.""Selene is a Green. She can detach her spirit from her body because she binds herself to the atoms of the air. Astral projection. Extremely rare. Extremely difficult to master."
Part 3: The White Chaos Why Kyro Almost Died
Then he changed the hologram one last time. The four colors, Red, Blue, Violet, Green, began to whirl. They turned faster and faster until they collided in the middle. A gleaming, white light emerged.
"And then... White. Shinsei." Rioji looked at me intently. "White is not its own category. White is the full spectrum. It means that your body has no biological block. You have the potential for all four principles."
I stared at the light. "Then I can use everything?"
Rioji laughed out loud. A hard, dry sound. "Use? Yes. Control? No." He stepped forward and tapped me hard on the forehead. "The true potential of a Shinsei does not lie in doing everything at once. It lies in the combination. You can mix two colors. Red and Blue for explosive speed. Violet and Green for elemental manipulation." He became serious. "But when you attacked Solis, you did not combine. You tried to ignite Red, Blue, Violet, and Green simultaneously. Your body did not know where to go with the energy. It was a meltdown." He grabbed my shoulder. "You are like a high performance reactor that has been put into a rusty drone. The engine is too strong for the casing. If you try to call up everything at once again, you will burn out. You will implode. And you will take everyone within a hundred meters with you."
Part 4: The Competition The Status Quo
Rioji went to a wall where photos and data sheets hung. It was an overview of the divisions. "So that you know where you stand. At the very bottom." He pointed to the pictures. "Shade, he is the only known Shinsei who has mastered it. He switches between the colors, combines them, faster than you can blink. He is the top." Then he pointed to Echo. "Echo. Her blood was white during the test. She has the predisposition to be a Shinsei. But she is stuck." That surprised me. "Echo? But she is so strong...""She is strong, no doubt. She has mastered the red aspect, Kōtai, to perfection. Physically, she is a clear Sandan. However, despite her abilities, she continues to struggle to use the other colors without overloading herself. She can project energy outward, a step toward Blue, but she does not yet master the true connection. She is a Shinsei, however, an imperfect one."
He turned to me. "You yourself start at zero. The vessel is strong, but the leadership is missing." At zero? So nothing to be proud of. I opened my mouth, then closed it again. Contradicting would make no sense. He pressed a button on the wall. The door to the training cage opened. Three figures stepped out. "This is my pack. Your new family. They all master Nidan. They know who they are."
Family?! A word I never had. Only fragments. Only Aria. If this is supposed to be a family, then I want to know what that feels like. Even if it breaks me first.
He introduced them, one after the other
Zayne 16 Violet Seishin. His gaze was empty, almost dead. "Tactician. He wins the fight in his head before you raise your fist."
Utak 13 Red Kōtai . Small, but broad like a cabinet. "Destruction. When he hits the ground, the city shakes. Tremor Smash."
Lynora 18 Violet Seishin. Piercings, dangerous smile. "Information gathering. She knows things about you that you have forgotten yourself."
Rioji stood between me and them. "They are ahead of you. Miles ahead. But you have something they don't have. You have the chaos."
Chaos. As if that were a gift. He grabbed me by the shoulder and pushed me toward the cage. "Good, we begin. Anyone can learn to throw lightning, but to survive without breaking, that is the true art. I will help you organize your inner lines. Calmly. Methodically." He grinned evilly. "Into the ring. Zayne starts. Just try not to go insane when he crawls into your head."
I stepped forward. No lightning. No chaos. Just stay standing. "...Understood," I said. I hope.