The third day dawned beneath a blanket of grey.
There was no sun — only a low, heavy sky, brooding over the sacred stone circle where three young warriors stood with their backs straight and their hearts uncertain. A biting wind brushed over the ancient grounds, tugging at their robes and cutting through the silence like an unspoken truth.
The Guardian Spirit stepped into the center, his robes motionless despite the breeze — a stillness that came only from complete control over body and soul.
Guardian Spirit (voice low but sharp):
"Today, we test your minds. Not your bodies."
The boys didn't speak.
Guardian Spirit:
"This is the Illusion Trial. What you see will not be real — but the pain will be.
The spirits feed on emotion — Betrayal and Hatred most of all.
To fight them, your heart must be steel.
Weakness... becomes death."
He raised one palm toward the sky.
The air itself shimmered.
The wind died.
And then —
Darkness.
🔵 Akito – Trial 4: "Again"
Darkness peeled away slowly — like heavy velvet curtains lifting — to reveal snow.
A narrow street blanketed in pale white.
A cracked doorway.
And a child's crying voice.
Akito stood in the middle of it, heart hammering beneath his ribs. But this time, he didn't panic.
He knew this street.
He knew that voice.
He took a slow breath. The cold didn't bite him. The past didn't swallow him.
Akito (quietly):
"Again."
The same nightmare had come yesterday — and crushed him.
But now he was ready.
He turned toward the broken door.
Inside, his mother sat hunched over, her face buried in her hands, her voice raw with weeping.
And in the corner — tied, gagged — his brother, sobbing as two masked figures dragged him away.
Akito (firm, to himself):
"This isn't real. This is reminder. Not truth."
His hand moved toward his waist — and there they were.
The twin sapphire daggers.
The Sapphire Fangs.
They pulsed faintly, as if sensing his focus.
He drew them slowly. The blades hummed. Each shimmered with a faint blue aura that warped the falling snowflakes around it.
Not yet fully his — but they no longer rejected him.
He walked forward, past the illusion of his weeping mother.
She reached out.
Mother (crying):
"Why didn't you save him?!"
He didn't flinch. Didn't speak.
Just passed through the illusion.
The voices turned to static.
Then silence.
The snow melted into nothingness.
The Guardian Spirit's voice echoed through the void.
Guardian Spirit (low):
"You lasted longer. Good. You're close."
Light returned slowly.
Akito found himself back in the circle. Kneeling, his Fangs still faintly glowing.
He breathed out.
Not a victory — but progress.
🔴 Shintarō – Trial 3: "Illusion"
Shintarō stepped forward without hesitation.
He didn't wait. Didn't ask questions.
As the trial began, the wind was gone. Even his breath seemed muffled.
Darkness turned into warm amber light.
Rain ticked against wooden shutters.
He was five again.
A small room. A tiny shrine burning incense.
And her — his mother — kneeling beside him, clutching a crying baby.
Mother (soft voice, eyes pained):
"Shintarō... please protect your brother. No matter what happens... the world is cruel out there."
She smiled through tears.
She held both boys against her, her embrace trembling with fear she couldn't voice.
Mother (whispering):
"I love you both... take care of each other..."
Shintarō tried to speak — but his five-year-old voice came out instead.
Shintarō (childish whisper):
"Mama... why are you crying?"
Then — the candle flickered. The room grew cold.
The scene warped.
Blood on the floor. Her eyes glassy. Her body motionless.
Sumiyoshi — still a baby — crying and reaching toward him.
Sumiyoshi (tiny voice):
"Nii-chan... where's Mama?"
Shintarō screamed.
He tried to reach her. To stop it.
But everything froze.
Then shattered.
He jolted back, landing hard on the stone floor of the circle, panting.
His hands shook violently. His lips were bloodless.
The Guardian Spirit stepped close.
Guardian Spirit (soft but firm):
"You... failed."
Shintarō collapsed to his knees, covering his face with his arm.
The trial left no physical wound — but his heart bled.
The worst pain wasn't the memory. It was the helplessness that came with it.
Shintarō (broken whisper):
"It felt too real..."
🟡 Sumiyoshi – Watching
Sumiyoshi had not yet taken his trial.
But now... he didn't want to wait.
He saw Shintarō, knees to the ground, pain in every breath.
He saw Akito, silent, sitting beside his glowing daggers.
He saw that pain didn't always come with swords.
Sometimes, it came from remembering what love felt like — and losing it.
He clenched his fists.
Sumiyoshi (thinking):
Nii-chan... I'll become stronger too.
I won't let you carry this alone anymore.
🌙 Same Night – After Midnight – The Cabin Door Creaks Open
The night outside was windless. No rustle of trees, no song of insects — just a dense, waiting silence.
Inside the small wooden cabin, the soft crackle of fire barely reached the far corners of the room.
Shintarō sat near the window, awake. His fingers absently traced patterns into the fogged glass.
Sumiyoshi slept with his hand still resting near his wooden training staff, a habit born from insecurity.
Akito, lying on his back, eyes open, stared at the ceiling — jaw clenched, his mind still replaying whispers from the Illusion Trial.
And then — the door creaked.
The wind didn't open it.
A presence did.
It was the Guardian Spirit.
Not in his fiery, thunderous form... but subdued, cloaked in a fading blue aura. His divine glow flickered like candlelight. He looked... older. Dimmer.
He didn't speak at first. He simply walked in and stood before them, his hands behind his back, eyes closed.
Then — his voice echoed, gentle yet thunder-laced.
Guardian Spirit (quietly, almost weary):
"You wonder why you could see through the illusions. Why you were able to recognize their falseness, resist their lure... even if barely."
All three boys looked toward him now — fully awake.
Guardian Spirit (opens his glowing eyes slowly):
"It is because I am weak."
A pause.
Sumiyoshi sat up, startled.
Akito's brows furrowed.
Shintarō turned, finally meeting his gaze.
Guardian Spirit (voice soft, like wind before a storm):
But my strength is very weak as compared to the spirit forms.
Akito (hesitantly):
"But... you're a guardian. A divine being. How can that thing — that cursed spirit — affect you?"
Guardian Spirit:
"Because the spirit feeds on time... on despair... on your hesitation."
He looks at Akito, then Sumiyoshi, then finally rests his eyes on Shintarō.
Guardian Spirit:
"The illusions I showed you were faint copies of what the spirit can create.
The true Nightmare Illusions are worse. They twist your memories.
They'll make you doubt who you are... what you've fought for."
He steps forward, and his shadow stretches unnaturally across the wooden floor.
Guardian Spirit (voice low, serious):
"The moment you let grief grow deeper than purpose...
Or fear louder than resolve...
The spirit will invade your soul."
Shintarō (hoarse whisper):
"You mean... the illusions we saw... they were only shadows?"
Guardian Spirit (nods slowly):
"Faint echoes. Born from your own hearts.
But the real spirit... it doesn't show your memories.
It remakes them."
He turns his gaze now to Sumiyoshi.
Guardian Spirit:
The spirit could only create an illusion when you are emotionally weak or you dont have your weapon.
And the longer time you take the stronger the cursed spirit will be cause it become more powerful by passage of time.
Sumiyoshi looked down, fists tightening. His training staff — which had not yet chosen him — lay beside him like a mute spectator.
Akito (murmurs):
"And you said... the longer we take... the stronger it gets?"
Guardian Spirit:
"Every passing day is a gift... not to you — but to it.
Its forms evolve.
He pauses.
The fire flickered out. Darkness surrounded them now — only the guardian's dim glow illuminated their faces.
Guardian Spirit :
"So,Find your weapon.
Find your purpose.
Or fall."
And with that... he faded into the shadows.
🌌 Silence
Akito stared at the glowing fangs beside him.
Still not fully awakened.
But closer now.
Shintarō closed his eyes, still seeing their mother's face, that moment twisted in blood.
And Sumiyoshi — quietly, slowly — picked up his weapon again.
This time... with trembling hands, but stronger resolve.
Sumiyoshi (in his thoughts):
"I won't be the one left behind anymore.
Even if it takes everything I have... I'll make it choose me."