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Chapter 73 - Dark voyage chapter 73

NAMAE ISAMU

He was warm. Warmer than I expected. His embrace wasn't suffocating, but grounding, like gravity itself. I could smell the faintest trace of smoke on him, familiar yet distant, and for a moment, I let myself melt into that stillness.

Time passed without words. Neither of us moved. Neither of us wanted to. Then his voice cut softly through the quiet.

"I'm sorry."

I lifted my head, searching his face. "Why are you sorry?" I asked, though I already felt the weight behind his words.

He took a breath, each word trembling. "I killed my mother."

I froze. "No… that's not—"

"I'm the reason she disappeared," he interrupted, his voice low, heavy.

He stepped back from my arms. I instinctively reached forward, but he held his ground. His eyes were raw, stripped of everything but guilt.

"I have an ability," he said, "that stops time and pulls me into another dimension. I used it to save her. But… to leave that place, someone has to die. Anyone inside it."

My heart dropped. The air around us felt colder.

He swallowed hard, lowering his voice. "I had a final talk with her. She gave me life… and I gave her death."

A tear slipped down my cheek before I could stop it. He stepped forward again, brushed it away, and pulled me into him, his heartbeat racing against my own.

"I'm sorry for your loss," I whispered, barely able to steady my voice. "For both of them."

His arms tightened around me. His reply came like a blade pressed to my chest.

"I'm sorry. For all of it."

I tilted my head, confused. "What exactly?"

His voice hardened, sharper than steel.

"I will kill your master."

YOSUKE SHIN

Days passed in Yoshi Village. Jiro and I spent our time in the training hall, buried in sparring matches.

That's when I began to uncover the evolution of my elements.

Water became ice.

Fire split into blue fire and lightning.

Earth refined into metal.

Wind… remained unchanged, for now.

Jiro had grown, too. His Darkness Blade was unlike anything I'd faced before. It wasn't born of ordinary shadow, but something deeper. A blade in perfect harmony with itself—light's opposite, yet not destructive. Resistant. Balanced.

I couldn't explain it. It was beyond my knowledge, beyond theory.

Then the final day came. We received word: the personal army had returned. Our test would be held in the afternoon.

That morning, everything seemed normal… until I heard a frantic knock at my door. Jiro burst in, panic on his face. He clutched his chest, trembling, and I instantly knew what had happened.

"Congratulations," I said, pride filling my voice. "You've unlocked the second stage of your light core."

His eyes lit up, and a wide smile spread across his face. He admitted it was something he'd been chasing for years.

We celebrated with drinks in the village. Talked for hours. Laughed. For a while, it felt like the calm before a storm.

Later, we returned to old man Jiro's house and gave him back the golden card. Time slipped by quickly there, until the sun began to sink.

Then, as evening shadows stretched across the roads, we left the old man's home and headed back to the main house.

The battle was waiting.

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