The forest had seemed to fall silent as night settled in, the house feeling unusually quiet as Kiyoshi lay on his bed, staring at the wooden ceiling, attempting to focus on something other than the storm of thoughts that flooded his mind. His training with Ceng-tae had intensified; shifting in the bed, trying to relax, he could feel his muscles aching as he fought to get comfortable.
Finally, exhaustion took hold, and Kiyoshi drifted off into an uneasy sleep.
And then, the nightmare began... darkness. It wasn't just around him; it was inside him; it clawed at his chest. Sinking deeper into this swirling void, every thought suffocated, his body left paralyzed, suspended in an endless fall. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't scream. Then, faint sounds reached his ears. Distant at first, like echoes through a tunnel, but it grew louder with each passing second.
Screams.
The sound of clashing steel.
The roar of something monstrous, something that he couldn't even imagine.
Suddenly, he was standing in the middle of a battlefield, surrounded by chaos. Thick smoke choked the air; its acrid scent strung his throat. Through the murky haze, shadowed figures clashed—blades flashing in the gloom. Bodies fell, blood stained the earth, and flames burned brightly, devouring everything in its path. The screams... they echoed, growing louder, as if the voices were calling out to him.
"Where... where am I? What's happening?" Kiyoshi's voice caught in his throat as he tried to scream, but the chaos drowned him out.
He stumbled, helpless, as the ground beneath his feet shook. Everything felt wrong—like puzzle pieces that didn't fit, yet he couldn't stop searching. Panic surged through him as he tried to move, trying to escape, but his feet were rooted to the spot, held in place by the corpses.
And then he saw it—a figure standing amidst the destruction.
Tall and imposing, the mana surrounding the figure was intense, enough to make Kiyoshi's heart race. With just a simple lift of a hand and a mere gesture, the battlefield seemed to bend at its will. Soldiers collapsed, the ground cracked, and none dared to impose.
Who is that? Kiyoshi thought, his eyes locked on the figure. But deep down, he already knew the answer.
The figures turned, and though his face was obscured, Kiyoshi could feel the weight of its gaze. A cruel smile sat on the figure's lips as it raised its hand again. Darkness poured from its fingertips, swirling around him like a storm, consuming everything in its path.
Kiyoshi tried to scream and run, but the darkness closed in, swallowing him whole.
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"Awakening."
Kiyoshi jolted awake, gasping for breath. His body was drenched in sweat, his heart pounding in his chest. The room was dark, save for the faint glow of the moon filtering through the window, casting eerie shadows on the walls.
What was that? He pressed a hand to his chest, trying to calm his racing heart. The images from the dream were still vivid in his mind—the figure, the destruction. It had felt so real, so visceral as if he had been there before.
But that was impossible. He didn't remember any of it. He didn't remember anything.
"Kiyoshi?" Ceng-tae's voice broke through the silence, pulling him back to reality. Sitting up, Kiyoshi wiped the sweat from his forehead. "I had a dream... well, it was more like a nightmare."
Ceng-tae's eyes narrowed slightly, but he didn't press for details. Instead, he stepped into the room, "Nightmares can be the mind's way of remembering things we've forgotten."
Kiyoshi had a puzzled look on his face, his thoughts racing. "But I don't remember any of it... the battlefield, the figure... it felt like I was there, like I had lived through it."
Ceng-tae remained silent for a moment. "Dreams are strange things, Kiyoshi. They can be fragments of the past, the future, or even something else entirely. But for now, it's best not to dwell on it.
Kiyoshi wanted to push for answers, but something in Ceng-tae's tone made him hesitate. There was a heaviness in his voice, a warning not to dig too deeply.
"Try to get some rest," Ceng-tae said finally, turning to leave. "We'll continue training in the morning."
Kiyoshi watched him go, his mind still swirling with questions. The dream had felt too real to be dismissed too easily. And the figure—the one who had commanded such power—there was something disturbingly familiar about him.
Who was it? Kiyoshi thought as he laid back down, staring up at the ceiling. And why did it feel like... me?
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"The Shadow Within."
The next morning, Kiyoshi moved through his training in a daze. His body went through the motions—sword strikes, mana control, reflex drills—but his mind kept drifting back to the dream. Whenever he closed his eyes, he saw the battlefield, the destruction... the figure.
"Kiyoshi," Ceng-tae's voice cut through the fog, sharp and commanding. "Focus."
Kiyoshi blinked, realizing he had stopped mid-strike. He gritted his teeth, frustrated with himself. "Sorry."
Ceng-tae studied him for a long moment before speaking again. "Something is bothering you."
It wasn't a question, but Kiyoshi nodded anyway. "The dream… It felt like a memory. Like something I should remember but can't."
Ceng-tae's expression softened slightly, though his tone remained firm. "Dreams can be deceiving. Don't let them cloud your judgement."
Kiyoshi clenched his fist, feeling the frustration bubble up inside him. "But what if it's more than a dream? What if it's connected to who I really am?"
Ceng-tae was silent for a moment, "In time, the answers will come. But for now, you need to focus on the present."
Kiyoshi wanted to demand answers, but he knew it would be futile. Ceng-tae wasn't going to give him any more information than what he had already told him. With a sigh, he nodded and returned to his training.
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