The morning sun filtered through the worn cotton curtains, casting a warm glow over the scattered manga volumes piled precariously beside Ren Himura's futon. A thin line of drool connected the corner of his mouth to the open page of "Blade Shadow: Chronicles of the Dark Hero" – his favorite series, dog-eared from countless readings.
*I am Blade Shadow, defender of the night, master of the seven forbidden techniques!* Ren's dream-self proclaimed with confidence he'd never possessed in waking life. Dream-Ren stood tall, midnight cloak billowing dramatically despite the absence of wind, as a horde of shadow demons cowered before him.
In reality, the skinny seven-year-old boy with perpetually messy black hair and wide, unfocused eyes had never made anyone cower. In fact, he'd rarely made anyone do anything at all. Words had a frustrating tendency to jumble in his throat whenever he tried speaking to others, emerging as awkward mumbles that earned him pitying looks from adults and derisive snickers from other children.
"Ren! The sun's been up for hours!" His mother's voice shattered the dreamscape. The shadow demons evaporated, and Blade Shadow's confident stance dissolved like morning mist. "The pastries won't deliver themselves!"
Ren's eyes snapped open, momentarily confused by the transition from all-powerful hero to ordinary boy. He blinked at the manga beneath his cheek, carefully closing it and adding it to the stack beside his bed.
*If I were Blade Shadow, I'd leap from bed and be dressed in a flash, ready for any challenge,* Ren thought, imagining the hero's swift movements. Instead, he stumbled while pulling on his pants, hopping awkwardly on one foot before tumbling into his small collection of action figures.
"Coming, mom!" he called, though what actually emerged was closer to "C'mmm-mm!"
His mother, Kaori Himura, waited in their modest kitchen, flour dusting her apron and a few strands of her tied-back hair. Despite the exhaustion lining her eyes, her smile remained warm as sunshine.
"There's my sleepy hero," she said, ruffling his already chaotic hair. "Did you save the world again last night?"
Ren nodded enthusiastically, picking up a rice ball from the table. In his mind, he crafted an elaborate description of his dream battle, complete with dynamic sound effects and dramatic poses. What came out was: "F-fought shadow d-demons."
But Kaori Himura possessed what Ren considered a superpower more impressive than any manga hero's – she understood him perfectly.
"Shadow demons, hmm? Those are tricky opponents," she said seriously, packing warm pastries into delivery boxes. "Did you use the lightning technique or the wind blade?"
Ren's eyes lit up. "B-both! Combined them!" His hands made a swooshing gesture that sent his rice ball flying across the kitchen.
Kaori caught it with practiced ease, years of handling delicate pastries having honed her reflexes. "Impressive! No demon stands a chance against my Ren." She handed him back his breakfast with a wink. "Now eat up. We have deliveries to make before I open the shop."
As they walked through the village streets, Ren half-listened to his mother's gentle reminders about delivery etiquette. His mind wandered as usual, transforming the familiar dusty path into a treacherous mountain trail beset by dangers only he could see. Each puddle became a bottomless chasm; each stray cat morphed into a spirit beast requiring careful negotiation.
"Remember to bow properly to Master Tanaka," Kaori reminded him as they approached the apothecary. "And if you can't say 'good morning,' just smile and nod, okay?"
Ren nodded, clutching the pastry box to his chest. In his imagination, it contained not sweet bean buns but ancient scrolls of forbidden knowledge he must protect at all costs.
The apothecary's bell jingled as they entered. The familiar smell of herbs and medicines filled Ren's nostrils, triggering his transformation from secret scroll guardian to careful explorer of an ancient alchemist's lair.
"Ah, Kaori-san! And young Ren, too," Master Tanaka greeted them from behind his counter. The elderly man's smile crinkled his face like weathered parchment. "Just in time for my morning tea."
Ren stared at his feet, suddenly fascinated by a scuff on his left shoe. The practiced greeting he'd rehearsed in his head – a simple "good morning" – evaporated like mist.
"Say hello, Ren," his mother prompted gently.
"G'mrng," Ren mumbled, thrusting the box forward like an offering to an unpredictable deity.
Master Tanaka accepted it with a respectful nod that made Ren feel momentarily taller. "Thank you, young man. Your mother's red bean buns give an old man strength for the day."
While the adults chatted, Ren's attention drifted to the apothecary's shelves. Glass jars contained mysterious powders and dried plants that could easily be rare ingredients for magical elixirs. A stuffed owl in the corner was clearly a transformed wizard, frozen mid-spell.
"...been having those dreams again," Ren tuned back in as his mother mentioned something in a worried tone. "Talking in his sleep about battles and powers."
Master Tanaka's bushy eyebrows rose with interest. "Many children have vivid imaginations, Kaori-san. Especially those with quiet dispositions. The mind seeks expression somehow."
"I know, but it's different lately. More intense. Last week he jumped from his futon in his sleep and landed in a perfect fighting stance I've never seen before."
This was news to Ren. He had no memory of doing such a thing, though it sounded exactly like something Blade Shadow would do.
Master Tanaka stroked his wispy beard thoughtfully. "The soul core awakening age approaches for him, does it not? Seven is often when the first signs appear."
Kaori's hand instinctively moved to Ren's shoulder, gripping a bit too tightly. "He's so gentle though. I'd hoped perhaps he might not..."
The old man shook his head. "The soul core doesn't choose based on temperament, Kaori-san. Gentle or fierce, if it's within him, it will emerge."
Ren's eyes widened. Soul cores weren't just manga fantasy? The mysterious power source that transformed ordinary people into heroes existed in real life?
"W-will I get a s-soul core?" he blurted, forgetting his shyness in his excitement.
Both adults looked down as if suddenly remembering he was there.
"Most children do, Ren," Master Tanaka said kindly. "Though what form it takes and how powerful it becomes varies greatly. Your mother has one, though she hasn't used it actively since—"
"Since your father passed," Kaori finished softly. "I never had much aptitude for combat applications anyway."
This was revelatory information. Ren stared at his mother with newfound wonder. His gentle, pastry-making mother had a soul core? Could transform like manga heroes? The very concept reshuffled his understanding of the world.
"What's y-yours do?" he asked, words coming more easily in his excitement.
A hint of sadness crossed Kaori's face. "Nothing very impressive. Minor heat manipulation – useful for baking but little else."
"Your mother is too modest," Master Tanaka chuckled. "Her precise temperature control makes her pastries the finest in three villages. Not all powers need to cleave mountains to be valuable."
Ren nodded solemnly, cataloging this wisdom alongside profound quotes from his favorite manga heroes. *Not all powers need to cleave mountains.* He liked that.
The rest of the day passed in a blur of deliveries and helping at the pastry shop. Ren's mind buzzed with new possibilities. If soul cores were real, perhaps the heroic transformations in his manga weren't pure fantasy either. Could he someday stand tall against evil, just like Blade Shadow?
That evening, while helping his mother close the shop, Ren gathered his courage. "C-can I see your soul core?"
Kaori paused in wiping down the counters. For a moment, he thought she might refuse, but then she placed the cloth aside and knelt to his level.
"It's been years since I manifested it fully," she said. "But I suppose you're old enough to see."
She closed her eyes in concentration. Ren held his breath. Slowly, a soft orange glow emanated from her chest, coalescing into a small, translucent sphere the size of a plum about an inch from her body. Within it, tiny flames danced like living things.
"Whoa," Ren breathed, momentarily forgetting to stutter.
"Not very impressive compared to what you'll see from actual Rankers," she said, letting the manifestation fade. "But it's mine."
"It's b-beautiful," Ren insisted.
Kaori smiled, touching his cheek. "When yours awakens, it will reflect who you truly are inside. That's why every soul core is unique."
That night, lying in bed surrounded by his manga collection, Ren couldn't sleep. *Who I truly am inside.* What would his soul core look like? In his favorite stories, the protagonist's power always reflected their innermost nature. Blade Shadow's darkness manipulation stemmed from his tragic past; Sun Fist's radiant energy from his unwavering optimism.
What did Ren have inside? He wasn't brave like his heroes. Wasn't outspoken or confident. Just a quiet boy who lived more in dreams than reality.
*But maybe,* he thought, *maybe my soul core will change everything. Maybe it will make me into someone who can actually be a hero.*
With that hope glowing in his chest, Ren finally drifted to sleep.
---
The dream was different this time.
Instead of embodying his hero Blade Shadow, Ren stood as himself – small, ordinary, dressed in his faded blue pajamas. Before him stretched an endless void where distant stars pulsed like heartbeats.
"Hello?" His dream-voice emerged clear and strong, untroubled by his waking stutter. "Is anyone there?"
A soft rustling responded, like feathers brushing against darkness.
*Little dreamer,* a voice rasped, neither male nor female, neither kind nor cruel. *You seek strength but know not what strength is.*
A shape formed in the darkness – a massive crow with feathers black as the void itself, eyes gleaming red like twin blood moons.
In his manga, this would be the moment for terror. The monster appears, the hero falters momentarily before finding resolve. But Ren felt no fear, only a strange recognition, as if he'd always known this creature would appear someday.
"Are you my soul core?" he asked.
The crow's laughter echoed like distant thunder. *I am far more and far less. I am fragment and whole. I am memory and possibility.*
It made no sense, yet somehow Ren understood. "Will you help me become strong? Like the heroes in my stories?"
*Strength comes in many forms, little dreamer. The warrior's arm, the scholar's mind, the shadow's cunning. Which do you seek?*
Ren considered. In his stories, the hero always had a ready answer for such questions. But Ren wasn't a hero. Not yet.
"I don't know," he admitted. "I just don't want to be afraid anymore."
The crow's eyes softened, the harsh red dimming to something almost gentle. *Honest, at least. Very well. I shall grant you not one strength but many. Not one voice but several. In fragments, there is wholeness. In division, unity.*
Before Ren could ask what this meant, the crow dissolved into countless smaller birds that spiraled around him, drawing closer until they touched his chest. Pain bloomed where they entered, sharp and cold like winter rain.
*Awaken, little dreamer. Your first self stirs.*
---
Ren's eyes flew open with a gasp. His small bedroom was bathed in moonlight, everything normal and ordinary – except for the pulsing black light emanating from his chest.
"M-mom?" he called out, fear making his voice even smaller than usual.
The light intensified, forming a small sphere that floated just above his heart. Unlike his mother's warm orange core with its dancing flames, Ren's was deep black, shot through with crimson veins that pulsed like living things. At its center, something moved – a tiny shadow that resembled a bird in flight.
"Ren?" His mother's voice came from the doorway. Kaori stood frozen, eyes wide as she took in the sight of her son's awakened soul core. "Oh heavens..."
"Is it b-bad?" Ren asked, suddenly terrified that his core was somehow wrong. Too dark, too strange. Not heroic at all.
Kaori rushed to his side, gathering him in her arms despite the swirling energy between them. "No, my sweet boy. It's just... unexpected. Very powerful."
"R-really?"
"Yes. Most children your age manifest just a spark, not a fully formed core." She studied the pulsing sphere with a mixture of awe and concern. "And the coloration is unusual. Have you... been having strange dreams?"
Ren nodded against her shoulder, describing the crow and its cryptic words. As he spoke, the core's pulsing synchronized with his heartbeat, the tiny shadow within growing more distinct – definitely bird-shaped now.
Kaori listened silently, her expression growing more troubled. When he finished, she smoothed his hair back from his forehead. "Tomorrow we'll visit Master Tanaka again. He'll know more about this type of manifestation."
"Am I going to be a Ranker?" Ren asked, a mixture of excitement and fear making his voice quaver.
His mother's smile didn't quite reach her eyes. "It seems likely, with a manifestation this strong. But that's a conversation for tomorrow." She tucked the blanket around him, careful to avoid disturbing the still-visible soul core. "For now, try to rest."
Long after she left, Ren lay awake, watching the gentle pulse of his core. *Not one strength but many. Not one voice but several.* The crow's words echoed in his mind, mysterious yet somehow comforting.
As he finally drifted toward sleep, a strange sensation washed over him – as if he were both falling asleep and waking up simultaneously. His limbs felt heavy yet energized, his mind foggy yet sharp.
And somewhere deep within, something else – someone else – stirred to life.
*Rest, little dreamer,* a voice whispered from inside his own head, similar to his own yet different – stronger, more confident. *I'll make us strong while you sleep.*
Ren's eyes closed, his breathing deepened, and his consciousness faded into dreams of heroism and adventure.
But his body rose silently from the bed, eyes open yet different – sharper, more focused. With practiced movements that Ren had never performed in his waking life, this new self began a series of stretches, preparing for training that the sleeping mind knew nothing about.
"We'll become strong," Kage, the first alternate personality, whispered to the night. "Strong enough to protect everyone. Strong enough to be the hero you dream of becoming."
Outside, a crow landed on the windowsill, its red eyes gleaming as it watched the boy's transformed movements with what might have been satisfaction.
The awakening had begun.