Hours into the trek toward the colossal tree, the trail was littered with candidates who had collapsed from pure exhaustion. Only four remained. Raizen, casually draped the examination supervisor over his shoulder like a sack of grain, darted back and forth between the survivors with insulting ease.
"Come on, you slackers! You haven't even reached the tree and you're already hitting the dirt? Get up!" Raizen barked, clapping his hands inches away from a fallen boy's face.
The candidate lay face-down, his breath coming in ragged, desperate lunges. "We've been running for hours... there's no sign of it. If I take one more step... I'll die."
Raizen let out a heavy, bored sigh and blurred forward, catching up to the lead group of four while keeping a predatory distance. On his shoulder, the supervisor was turning green, trying to keep his head from spinning.
"Hey... could you slow down? Unlike you, some of us have frail bodies," the official wheezed.
Raizen glanced up with a sharp grin. "You're right, you are weak. But don't worry—I'll train you for free after this."
"No thank you! I'd like to keep my limbs attached to my body," the supervisor snapped. He looked ahead, his eyes widening as a massive silhouette broke through the horizon. "The tree! Look, they're almost there!"
Raizen skidded to a halt, watching the distant canopy. "I guess so. It's finally in view."
"But they'll never make it back in ten minutes," the supervisor pointed out, checking his watch. "Hours have passed already."
Raizen's smile turned dark. "That was never the point."
"Huh?"
"I only gave them that time limit so they'd start at a dead sprint," Raizen explained, his voice dropping into a rare moment of instruction. "The real goal is to watch them break their limits. To keep running even when the lungs burn and the legs give out. When the mind sees the distance and screams 'impossible,' that's when the doubt sets in. If you can push through that doubt and keep your feet moving... that is what I'm looking for."
He adjusted the supervisor's weight. "Plus, it forces them to learn 'Orvex Respiration.' To run this long at this speed, you have to learn how to breathe properly—circulating your energy through your cells instead of just your lungs."
"But they aren't even using weapons," the supervisor argued.
"They don't need them. This is internal Orvex training. First, it teaches you to use your energy as a biological reinforcement—strengthening veins, muscles, and bones from the inside out. Second, while you can't increase the amount of Orvex you were born with, you can increase its density by redlining your system. You make the fire hotter by burning the engine."
The supervisor looked at the four figures ahead. "I didn't know... to think four of them are still standing after all this. This really is the Awakened Era."
Raizen's eyes locked onto Zen, who was lagging slightly behind Aiko. "Yes. But Zen is the one I'm watching. He's the reason I'm even here. After that stunt he pulled earlier, I knew the kid had potential."
Zen's vision was blurring. Aiko ran steadily beside him, her expression a mix of grit and concern. "Zen, stop. You're pushing too hard. Your body wasn't built for this kind of strain."
Zen let out a shallow, shaky breath. "I'm... fine. Nearly there."
Aiko frowned. "Fine. But once we hit that tree, we rest. Tsukiko and Hoshizaki hit their limit miles ago; I'm honestly shocked you're still upright." With a final burst of speed, she surged ahead toward the finish line.
Zen prepared to match her pace, but as he swung his leaden arm, his overtaxed muscle fibers finally gave way. With an agonizing, wet snap, his shoulder failed. He let out a guttural grunt and slammed into the dirt, clutching his arm.
Aiko skidded to a halt and rushed back. "I told you! Why don't you ever listen?" She stared at his shoulder, her mind racing. (That's the same arm he used to pull the trigger after channeling 50% Orvex without any training. I'm surprised his arm hasn't fallen off entirely.)
From the sidelines, Raizen watched Zen struggle in the dust. "Oh well. Looks like Zenny-boy hit his wall."
"Yeah," the supervisor sighed. "I guess even he has a ceiling."
"He gassed out too early," Raizen said, his voice laced with disappointment. "Maybe he isn't special after all. How boring."
But Zen wasn't staying down. Gritting his teeth so hard they nearly cracked, he shoved Aiko's hand away and forced himself up. "I'm fine," he hissed through the pain. "I've come too far to stop now."
He began a limping, lopsided trot. Aiko, realizing she couldn't stop him, stayed at his side like a silent guardian.
Raizen's grin returned, wider and sharper than before. "Wait... look at that."
"He's wounded, not tired," the supervisor whispered in realization. "Don't tell me..."
"Yeah," Raizen chuckled. "The brat started this entire race with a broken body and still hasn't quit."
When the four finally reached the base of the massive tree, Raizen clapped his hands and dropped the supervisor onto the grass. "Good job. You earned a rest. We'll wait here for the other losers to crawl back. In the meantime, do whatever—I don't care."
Aiko glared at Raizen's retreating back. "Oh, I am definitely telling my brother about this," she muttered.
Zen stood before the ancient tree. Its roots were as thick as houses, and its leaves shimmered with a vibrant, glowing life that seemed to pulse against the light. He placed his good hand against the bark, closing his eyes to catch his breath.
Suddenly, the air whistled.
Zen's instincts screamed. He dove to the side just as a Scarred, balled-up fist slammed into the trunk. The impact sounded like a cannon blast; a crater exploded into the wood, and the shockwave sent the entire tree toppling to the ground in a roar of splintering timber.
Raizen spun around, his eyes alight with interest as he rushed back toward the noise.
Zen lay on the ground, his heart hammering against his ribs. Standing where the tree had been was a teenager—roughly eighteen, the same as Zen—but his body was a map of horrific scars. There wasn't an inch of skin that wasn't bruised or calloused. He wore a terrifying, jagged grin that didn't match his cold eyes, he chucked softly.
The stranger cracked his knuckles, looking down at Zen like a wolf finding his prey.
"I found you," Zanka said.