Pain.
It tore through Ryuji's body like a thousand blades. Every muscle screamed as the storm raged inside him, threatening to rip him apart. The sky above churned in a furious vortex, lightning crackling in chaotic bursts. The power was too much—too wild.
Ryuji gritted his teeth, forcing himself to remain standing. He wouldn't break. He couldn't.
Raiden stood before him, watching with an unreadable expression.
"The storm does not obey the weak," he said. "You must learn to control it—or it will consume you."
Ryuji clenched his fists. "Then tell me how!"
Raiden's silver eyes glowed with power.
"You do not command the wind—you become it."
The wind roared around Ryuji, pressing against his skin, testing him. His heartbeat pounded in his ears. His instincts screamed at him to push back, to fight the force threatening to crush him.
But Raiden's words echoed in his mind.
Become the storm…
A deep breath.
Instead of resisting, Ryuji let go.
The shift was instant. The wind no longer fought him—it welcomed him. His body grew lighter, his movements sharper, his senses expanding beyond anything he had ever known. He could feel the storm as if it were a part of him, moving through his veins like an extension of his very soul.
Raiden smirked.
"Good. You are learning."
A New Power
A sudden bolt of lightning streaked down from the heavens, striking the ground mere inches from Ryuji's feet. He barely had time to react before Raiden moved.
Too fast.
One moment Raiden was standing before him. The next—he was behind him.
"Your enemy will not wait for you to understand your power."
Ryuji barely turned before—
BAM!
A strike to his ribs sent him flying backward, skidding across the storm-torn ground. He gasped, clutching his side.
"Damn it…"
Raiden approached, unbothered.
"Again."
Ryuji forced himself up. The storm surged around him once more, but this time—it was different. He wasn't just being tested.
He was being forged.
With a sharp exhale, he moved.
The wind carried him forward, faster than before. He twisted his blade, striking toward Raiden with all his strength.
Raiden's smirk widened.
"Now we begin."
Hours passed.
Each moment was a relentless battle, every strike forcing Ryuji to push his limits. His body ached, but he refused to fall. He absorbed every lesson, every technique, becoming faster, sharper, stronger.
By the time Raiden finally lowered his sword, the storm had changed.
And so had Ryuji.
The Final Test
Raiden's gaze was calculating.
"You have come far. But there is one last thing you must prove."
He raised a single hand—and suddenly, the storm vanished.
Silence.
For the first time since arriving, the winds stopped. The lightning disappeared. The world felt empty.
Ryuji tensed.
Then, a shadow moved.
From the darkness, something stepped forward.
A figure.
No—a mirror.
Ryuji's breath caught in his throat. The person standing before him…
Was him.
Same face. Same stance. Same burning determination.
But something was wrong.
The other Ryuji smirked—a cruel, twisted version of his own expression. His silver eyes glowed with eerie intensity. And when he spoke, his voice was ice.
"Are you ready to face yourself?"
Raiden watched in silence as Ryuji took a step forward, heart pounding.
This was it.
The final test.
And this time, he wasn't fighting an enemy.
He was fighting himself.