The Ignition Of Purpose

The dawn sun crept over the cliffs of the eastern ridge, casting long golden beams through the morning mist like spears from the heavens.

At the Kenji training grounds, Kiato stood alone. His expression was resolute as he recalled all he had learned of flame and frost trying to put together a fighting strategy for his father's trial. The aura around him was unlike any other—a stable harmony of opposing forces.

Behind him, footsteps approached—slow, familiar, heavy with age suggesting that he was being approached.

"Your aura's different," came the deep, calm voice of his father—Gundrick Kenji. "More controlled. But also... uncertain."

Kiato didn't turn immediately.

"Flame and ice don't coexist easily," he said quietly. "But they're both in me now."

A pause. Then the deliberate, ceremonial sound of steel being drawn.

"Let's see if you're ready to fight," Gundrick said, "not just with your power—but with your soul."

Kiato inhaled sharply, his heart steady. He turned, drawing Hinoyuki, the blade humming with ancient power. For the first time, there was no fear in his stance—only purpose.

"Yes, Father. Let's begin."

They stepped apart, putting distance between them, each taking a stance. Gundrick's blade was already drawn, gripped firmly in both hands. He activated his blade first.

"From the heart of the glacier where dragons slumber, rise with crystal breath and silent wrath—Seiryukori!"

A massive cold aura swept across the training grounds. The temperature plummeted. A frost dragon, shimmering like living glass, coiled around Gundrick's arm. Slowly, a dark silver sword materialized in his grasp—its edge did not reflect light but swallowed it into a silent abyss, his cloak covered with a rhin amor of ice.

Gallus tryouts are tomorrow, Kiato reminded himself. This is my final training or rather trial. If Father doesn't acknowledge me, I won't be allowed to go. He'll think I'll end up dragging the Kenji's name through the mud.

"I won't let that happen!" he declared aloud, his determination etched into his very aura.

A mighty cry followed.

"Unleash the dragon's fury—Hinoyuki!"

Hinoyuki descended from the heavens in his full glory—half flame, half frost—before merging into Kiato's form. As their auras fused, Kiato's frost-blue hair shimmered with golden streaks of fire. His eyes turned mismatched—one a glowing sapphire, the other a burning ember.

His cloak crackled with molten veins, and in his grasp, Hinoyuki reshaped into its full Zenshiki form—a dark blade inscribed with ancient runes, radiating immense power in and absorbing light in Kiato's grip.

"Well, well, well..." Gundrick smirked. "Look who's attained a full Zenshiki. You'll have to tell me what you've been doing with your time."

Unmoved, Kiato replied coldly, eyes locked on his father. "I had a good teacher."

Tension thickened the air. The temperature dropped sharply on both sides. Kiato pointed his sword at Gundrick.

"Frost Technique—Frostburst Cannon!"

A massive cone of ice burst from the tip of Kiato's blade, hovering toward Gundrick.

Standing firm, Gundrick slashed through its center—only to be met by Kiato's blade in a head-on clash. A second slash of ice flew toward him.

"Frost Technique—Frozen Bastion!"

A towering wall of ice erupted from the earth as Gundrick's blade struck the ground, shielding him from the attack.

Kiato vanished—reappearing behind his father in the blink of an eye.

Clang!

Gundrick barely parried the blow. But Kiato pressed on, striking again and again, his flurry forcing Gundrick into a tight defense, gradually raising his internal temperature—a tactic the old warrior hadn't yet noticed.

Their blades clashed across the grounds, sparking from every impact as they sparred at impossible speed in completely random directions.

Gundrick saw an opening and launched a kick. Kiato twisted midair to evade, landing gracefully behind him. Seizing his moment, he pressed his left palm to Gundrick's back, channeling aura into his father's armor.

The temperature spiked.

"Flame Technique—Crimson Requiem!"

A violent blast of fire surged from Kiato's arm, engulfing Gundrick. But the elder Kenji diffused the flame with ice instantly.

Kiato leapt back—goal achieved.

Now a fiery glow blazed around his body like the apex of a lit candle.

"Flame Technique—Resonance Pyre!"

Flames began to bloom around Gundrick, melting the ice along his body, raising his core temperature.

But he was not consumed.

He tried again to extinguish the flame with frost—but it melted away. His eyes narrowed.

"All I had to do was infuse your amor with my aura and then wield control over your temperature like my own blade," Kiato declared. "Soon, even your breath won't be cold."

"Very clever," Gundrick said darkly. "A crude replica of my domain... but next time,try make your flames hotter."

He brought both hands together in a calculated gesture

"Hyōkai Shiha—Glacial Dominion!"

The world changed.

The sky vanished. The earth solidified into crystalline ice. Kiato's flames evaporated in the blink of an eye.

His father stood opposite him, now clad in glacial armor—dragon-like scales formed along his limbs as he mounted his frost dragon, its body a massive sapphire sculpture of living ice.

"Your flame makes you worthy to survive this realm," Gundrick said, "but not to conquer it."

Kiato ground his teeth. So, he went this far... I have to break through or else Gallus—

The thought of Gallus sparked something deep within him. His flame flared. Steam began to rise, pressure building in the frozen domain.

Then came a name.

"Azura."

It rang in his mind like a bell.

If I don't rank up, I may never see her again.

BOOM.

His aura exploded. Eyes burned with purpose. Heat surged to unbearable levels. The entire domain shook, steam and frost colliding violently.

CRACK.

The ice shattered. The Glacial Dominion collapsed into a cocoon of chaotic energy—until at last it unraveled, revealing the training grounds once more.

Gundrick stood still, disbelief and curiosity in his eyes.

"What lies behind that intensity... is it will alone?"

Kiato stood panting, vision blurred, yet his posture straight—held upright by resolve alone.

Gundrick smiled, turning toward the exit.

"Rest," he said. "Tomorrow, we depart for Gallus at sunset."