"Lunar Sage Art Mode, First Style: New Moon, Activate!"
My voice echoed across the void. The markings on my cheek, once faint now formed a thin circle outline, Black and Dark.
My senses sharpened.
I could see every subtle shift in the Great Sage's posture. It was as if the world slowed just enough that I could read it.
The Great Sage nodded once, recognizing the emergence of the New Moon Stage in me. "Good… your awareness has awakened. But awareness alone is not mastery."
He charged forward. The sword traced a clean arc, descending.
I stepped diagonally, moving along the line of his strike.
This time, it didn't shock me. It felt smooth.
I moved inside his guard.
A strike fast, sharp, aimed at his solar plexus. He parried with his forearm, sliding back a step.
"You learn quickly."
"I had a good teacher," I answered through short breaths.
He inhaled.
His aura shifted again, not just rising, but chaning. The markings on his cheeks darkened, now not just an outline of a circle, but a deeper crescent shape.
Crescent Moon Stage.
A pressure rolled out like a tide, overwhelming.
"Now, Elric," he called, voice ringing with power, "come face the Crescent Moon."
He rushed again. But this time his movements were fast.
I was pushed back instantly, my senses struggling to catch up. So I forced myself to breathe. Slow. Centered.
Then, something shifted.
A pulse in my chest. A gentle warmth behind my sternum, like a heartbeat aligning with the lunar rhythm he spoke of.
My aura flickered, dim at first, then grew brighter. The crescent on my cheek thickened, gaining a shimmering edge. Five Orbs appeared around me, feeding me mana.
I stepped forward to meet him with that blade.
Our strikes met—palm to blade, elbow to forearm, shoulder to shoulder.
Crescent Moon was not about force. It was about balance.
"I see it…" I murmured. The Great Sage heard me and his eyes glowed with satisfaction.
"Yes. The Crescent Moon is the stage of balance. It will grant you mana control and precision"
He spun, huge force carrying his strike.
I leaned into the strike—not away—guiding it past me, my hand sliding along the flat of the blade, redirecting it harmlessly aside.
His eyebrow lifted.He had not expected me to choose bare-handed sword manipulation this early.
"Then your weapon," he said softly, "is not steel." "No," I answered. "My weapon… is myself."
We moved again. This time, I pressed against him.
My steps became smoother, lighter. I could feel my breath aligning with the lunar rhythm, flow and tranquility.
The Great Sage's crescent stage began to waver—not because he weakened, but because I caught up.
The moment he noticed, he changed stance.
He gripped the sword two-handed, holding it vertically in front of him. The markings on his cheek brightened—crescent approaching half.
His voice echoed:
"Then prove it. Show me that your heart is no longer just a sword."
He thrust the sword forward— and I caught it.
My palm pressed against the metal.
We locked eyes.
The sword began to tremble.
The dark mist flickered continously as if trying to hold on.
The Great Sage's gaze sharpened. "Now, Elric. Push it away."
I breathed in.I exhaled.
And I pushed.
The sword flew back, slipping from his hands. The dark shroud around it wailed like something alive and dying.
The blade shattered.
Fragments scattered—and for a heartbeat I saw nothing but black mist dispersing like smoke under wind.
Then—
Light.
The fragments returned Reshaping itself.
The sword floated upright.Its form was clean, elegant—not ornate. A lunar blade—simple and perfect.It glowed faintly like moonlight on fresh snow.
The void brightened.
Then—
Everything changed.
A rush of images—
Cherry blossoms falling.
The sound of geta sandals on stone.
A cold morning courtyard in Kyoto.
A name whispered—
"Raisuke"
I saw myself, with my armor, swords crossed at the hip, kneeling before a young man with gentle, solemn eyes.
Emperor Meiji.
"Raisuke. Wherever you go in the future… that is up to you." His hand rested on my shoulder. "Take actions for yourself. Because you're not a sword, you're not my samurai, you're Yourself...You're worth yourself and you should be grateful for that....." "My Lord...." I began but...The world pulled away. I gasped, back in the void, back before the Great Sage, with a sword in my hand.
My sword.
My identity.
The Great Sage stood still, no stance, no guard, simply watching. His expression was no longer stern.
"You have done it," he said quietly. "You have perfectly mastered my art. You might have awakened it here but your body is not adapted to it. Meditate more....."
He lowered his head acknowledging me as an equal. "You are indeed my successor." He smiled warmly. "Elric, Master of the Lunar Sage."
He stepped back, fading like moonlight at dawn.
"Your power will be needed in the future in this shattering world" he said, his voice in whispers I couldn't hear at the end.
The void brightened, brighter and brighter
And I woke.