Decided to join
Scene: The Return to Mythral Dawn – A Toast to Ice and Identity
Location: Mythral Dawn Estate, City of Celestia
Style: Cinematic narrative, divine-level humor, emotional undercurrent
The gates of the Mythral Dawn estate swung open with familiar weight.
Even after months away and countless battles since, Takayoshi—or rather, Alter beneath the veil—felt something subtle shift in his chest.
The sprawling front garden was still dotted with pristine white stones.
The banners overhead still fluttered with the crest of the wolf-sun emblem. The scent of grilled meat, polished wood, and faint alchemical incense hung in the breeze.
Voices echoed from within the main hall—laughter, footsteps, excited chatter about divine blessings and unfathomable punches.
Alter stood quietly at the edge of the courtyard, his cloth-wrapped hands tucked behind his back as he took it all in.
The estate had not changed.
Not much, anyway.
"Still the same walls. Same damn squeaky gate hinge. Same weight in the air."
His gaze swept over the tiled rooftop, the vine-lined stone path, the windows of the western wing where sunlight used to filter through onto a certain desk.
"Even now… it feels like I'm the one out of place."
He exhaled slowly.
Then smiled.
Just a little.
That night, the celebration began.
The grand hall was packed wall to wall with noise, food, and divine chaos. Someone had summoned ethereal floating jellyfish-lanterns (probably Mira), and Garran was in the corner using his fire magic to grill skewers midair while Thorne kept knocking over trays of mead with his shoulder plates.
A small orchestra of summoned spirit-bards played dramatic dinner music entirely too epic for the buffet line.
But the real spotlight?
Takayoshi.
Seated at a long banquet table like an accidental war hero who hadn't agreed to be famous.
Selene sat two seats away, sipping from a tall crystal glass, eyes frequently—coincidentally—glancing his way.
Revyn, practically upside-down in a chair, pointed toward Takayoshi's wolf mask.
"Alright, now that we've fed you, you owe us something."
Takayoshi, not missing a beat:
"...A receipt?"
Mira, leaning over with dangerous sparkle-eyes:
"Your face."
Garran, already grinning:
"That's right. Let the man behind the mask be known!"
Sorei, flatly:
"We're literally giving out blessings. It's weird if we don't know what his nose looks like."
Takayoshi paused.
Truthfully, he had already anticipated this moment. So, he did what any mildly over-prepared, possibly divine-tier martial artist in disguise would do.
He had already changed his face.
Just in case.
Slowly, he raised a hand and unclasped the side buckle of his mask.
The room hushed.
The mask dropped onto the table with a quiet thunk.
And there he was.
A man in his early twenties. Smooth skin. Clean-shaven. High cheekbones. Sharp, sword-like eyebrows. A perfect symmetry that looked less like a warrior and more like a K-drama lead who just happened to moonlight as a one-man dungeon-clearing catastrophe.
Silence.
Then—
Mira gasped so hard her drink backfired.
Ilyra covered her mouth.
Veyna, from across the hall:
"Who let him look like that?!"
Revyn, squinting:
"Wait. Wait wait wait. That's illegal."
Someone leaned in, a soft, slightly trembling voice.
"S-So… if you don't mind us asking... how old are you?"
Takayoshi blinked once.
"Thirty-one."
Time stopped.
Mira's eyes widened to the size of dessert platters.
Garran dropped a grilled mushroom.
Caelum flew into a support beam.
Thorne spilled mead down his beard and didn't notice.
Ilyra, flustered:
"You're THIRTY-ONE?!"
Veyna, clutching her head:
"He looks TWENTY!"
Mira, in full heart-eyed-mode:
"What serum do you bathe in?!"
Sorei, suddenly invested:
"What moisturizer? Be honest. Is it enchanted?"
Selene, watching all of this with a bemused, very high-elven expression, leaned to the side.
"You all realize age means nothing to me, yes?"
She blinked.
"I stopped aging before your grandparents were born."
Mira, eyes still fixed on Takayoshi:
"Yeah but this is different, Selene! This is human sorcery!"
Revyn, dryly:
"It's worse. He fights like a seventy-year-old monk, looks like a prince, and punches things like a demigod with marital issues."
Takayoshi sighed and took a quiet bite of sweet-fried radish.
"I drink water. I sleep early. I don't use fire magic on my face."
Garran, scandalized:
"Was that an indirect insult?"
They laughed. They drank.
And even Takayoshi—surrounded by commanders he once trained, under a roof he once called home—allowed himself to smile.
He still didn't reveal who he truly was.
But that night…
He didn't feel like an outsider.
Just a strange older brother with a good skincare routine and dangerous fists.
Scene: The Mentor's Gambit – A Night Beneath Familiar Stars
Location: Mythral Dawn Estate – Outer Grounds, Midnight Training Yard
Tone: Cinematic, introspective with emotional depth and subtle romantic tension
The celebration roared on behind him.
Laughter echoed from the great hall, distant and muffled by the quiet blanket of night. Bottles clinked. Someone was singing terribly. Someone else was unconscious in a flowerbed.
Takayoshi walked alone through the outer grounds of the Mythral Dawn estate, his steps slow, deliberate. Not in weariness, but in thought.
It was exactly how he remembered it.
The curved pathways leading to the sparring fields. The neat rows of combat dummies. The grass, still trimmed with soldierly discipline. The old training platform—scarred from a thousand blade clashes—still stood in the center like a forgotten shrine.
He stopped in front of it.
Folded his arms.
And simply… looked.
"Some of them bled here for the first time."
"Some of them learned fear here."
"All of them grew stronger."
The silence was gentle here.
Soothing.
Until it wasn't.
A soft footstep behind him. Delicate, yet firm.
He didn't turn.
She didn't ask him to.
Selene Virellia stepped up beside him, her form a silhouette of moonlight and grace. Her usual precision was softened by the flush on her cheeks and the faintest sway in her posture. In her hand, she held a half-filled glass of amber wine—something expensive and no doubt earned.
Her long silver hair fluttered lightly in the breeze, catching the starlight like threads of spun moonlight.
They stood together without words for a moment, gazing at the quiet arena of their shared pasts.
Then, her voice—soft, slightly slurred, and beautifully honest:
"...So. What are your plans after this?"
Takayoshi didn't answer immediately.
His eyes remained fixed ahead, tracing the phantom movements of younger days and unfinished strikes.
Then he said, quietly:
"Probably travel again."
A breath.
"This dungeon gave me clarity. Two new strikes… both with their own philosophies."
"That makes sixteen and eighteen."
"But I'm still missing the seventeenth."
Selene listened, letting his words sink into the silence between them.
She glanced sideways at him—his posture composed, his expression unreadable, yet undeniably present. The alcohol made her bold, but not careless.
She tilted her glass slightly.
"Then why not stay?" she asked, voice low, almost playful. "Join Mythral Dawn."
"With the demon invasion looming… we could use someone like you."
She laughed softly, though the blush in her cheeks deepened.
"Besides…" her voice wavered for just a moment, "...maybe the Twelve Commanders can help you forge that last strike."
Takayoshi finally turned to her—just a little.
Enough to see the earnest light in her violet eyes.
He didn't smile.
But the silence that followed wasn't cold.
It was… thoughtful.
"I'll consider it," he said.
Simple.
Sincere.
And far more than she expected.
Selene looked back at the training field, her lips curving slightly.
"That's good enough… for tonight."
She lifted her glass in a half-toast.
The moonlight shimmered through it like frostfire.
And for a brief moment—there was nothing but stars, memories, and two warriors standing where legends once bled, contemplating the path forward.
Together.
Scene: Unraveled Threads – The Link Between Takayoshi and Alter
Location: Mythral Dawn Estate – Training Grounds (Late Night)
Tone: Cinematic revelation, divine humor, and emotional weight
The wind carried tension like a wire drawn taut between stars.
Selene's expression had sharpened the moment Takayoshi spoke the name.
"You know Alter."
It wasn't a question anymore.
It was an accusation, wrapped in calm.
Behind her, Revyn popped out from a nearby roof beam with the grace of a nosy cat.
Mira materialized behind a bush as if she'd always been part of it.
One by one, the rest of the Twelve Commanders appeared—bleary-eyed, curious, some still mid-dressing (Thorne had a sock on his hand), but all alert.
Their stares were fixed on Takayoshi like wolves circling a quiet stranger who suddenly spoke the alpha's name.
Takayoshi regarded them with casual ease, unshaken by the scrutiny.
"Yes," he said simply. "I knew him."
"We cleared several dungeons together. Some above your current tier."
A beat passed.
"He's as strong as I am now."
Silence.
And then—collective pain.
Garran, jaw slack:
"Wait. Wait, wait, wait. You're saying Master is as strong as you now?!"
Sorei, eyes wide:
"You just demolished a frost boss with your fist."
Thorne, dramatically collapsing to his knees:
"I have failed as a man."
Revyn, twitching:
"I thought I was catching up! I TRAINED THROUGH MY BIRTHDAY!"
Veyna, trembling:
"I've been journaling my progress…! In color-coded ink!"
Selene, however, remained still.
"You fought beside him?"
Takayoshi nodded.
"Learned beside him, too."
"He used to favor his sword techniques, but over time… I watched him evolve. Especially the Sky Piercer."
Selene's brows knit slightly.
"Alter changed the Sky Piercer?"
"No," Takayoshi corrected. "He refined it."
"There are three forms now. Each one adapted for different conditions: rapid execution, overwhelming force, and delayed rupture."
Every Commander was now leaning in—some subtly, others shamelessly.
Revyn, whispering to Mira:
"Three Sky Piercers. THREE. I can't even throw three daggers without falling over."
Garran, reverent:
"This is like learning your hero got DLC."
Then Takayoshi looked at Selene directly.
"Would you like me to demonstrate them?"
Boom.
The emotional detonation struck.
Twelve Commanders recoiled in collective disbelief.
Sorei, near-panicking:
"You can execute Sky Piercer?!"
Ilyra, clutching her head:
"But it's a divine sword art! You're unarmed! You're... you!"
Mira, now bouncing in place:
"DO IT DO IT DO IT—PLEASE!"
Takayoshi merely chuckled.
"I've studied it enough. And I trained with Alter long enough to inherit the framework."
He extended one hand toward Selene, palm up.
"Your sword, if I may."
Selene hesitated.
This was sacred ground. Her blade was not just a weapon—it was an inheritance.
But something in Takayoshi's posture… the ease, the authority, the complete absence of arrogance…
She handed it over.
Takayoshi turned to the practice field, drawing the blade slowly, precisely. He took a loose stance—not identical to Selene's traditional Sky Piercer form, but balanced, grounded in something older, sharper.
"I'll keep it brief."
Takayoshi caught Selene's gaze, then lifted the sword she handed him.
"Sky Piercer isn't just about force. It's about intent—cutting space, striking through resistance, and forcing fate to move aside."
He turned to the field, took a slow stance.
"First Form: Celestial Thrust."
"Concept—linear lightning projection."
"Method—stabilize mana flow into a fine stream. Visualize a thread piercing the world."
With a clean thrust, a bolt of lightning lanced forward. The line of trees far ahead buckled and split.
"Result: Extreme-range penetration. Cuts through multiple foes."
He pivoted again.
"Second Form: Heavenfall Rend."
"Anti-air concept. Method—wind spiral injection, vertical burst."
The lightning twisted upward like a dragon's breath toward the sky. The gathered leaves incinerated midair.
"Result: Pulls airborne targets down, disrupts aerial formations."
He strode to a nearby practice dummy and whispered:
"Third Form: Zero Distance."
"Close range. Method—collapse all force inward at point of impact."
A flicker. No visible movement.
BOOM.
The dummy exploded from the back. Not even a scorch mark in the front.
"Result: Total internal detonation. Armor is irrelevant."
Silence followed.
Then clapping.
Then cheering.
Then a mixture of clapping, cheering, and faint existential sobbing from Revyn behind a bush.
Selene, speechless, stepped forward and gently accepted her blade back from him.
She looked at the practice field. Then at him.
Then whispered:
"Can I learn all three?"
Takayoshi nodded and replied yes.
He then spoke more of his relationship with Alter.
"Alter and I made a bet long ago," he said, his voice carrying across the courtyard now filled with hushed anticipation. "A wager to see who could develop their techniques faster—his Divine Heaven Sword Style, or my Demon God Killing Martial Arts."
Selene tilted her head. "But… doesn't Alter have more sword techniques?"
Without blinking, Takayoshi answered with a serene, confident tone, "Eight. Eight total under the Divine Heaven Sword Style."
Gasps rippled across the gathered commanders like a magical shockwave. One dropped their canteen. Another visibly stumbled in place.
"I've only seen two of them myself," Takayoshi went on, calmly weaving his fiction with the precision of a bard's tongue. "The First Style—Dimensional Slash—slices space itself. It doesn't just cut; it removes what was there."
"Removes what—" someone muttered.
"And the other?" Selene asked.
Takayoshi raised a brow, feigning humility. "He never showed it fully. He called it… Life Sprinkler. A concept move. He once said it's a technique meant to sever mortality across multiple dimensions. Whatever that means."
Selene remained quiet for a long beat, absorbing the revelation. Then, a smile broke across her lips—a peaceful, almost liberated smile that softened every edge of her normally sharp expression.
Takayoshi felt his composure slip for the briefest moment.
Thump.
He blinked. That smile… She really is beautiful.
Clearing his throat quickly, he looked to the rest of the group. "That's enough for tonight. Rest up. We continue tomorrow."
He turned back to Selene, eyes calm. "You'll be training Sky Piercer with me. We'll start with foundation drills."
"Ooooh~" one of the female commanders teased with a wicked grin. "Selene gets a private lesson!"
"Is that what the kids call it now?" another chimed in.
Selene turned crimson. "It's not like that!!"
Takayoshi coughed. Loudly.
And thus, laughter—half-mocking, half-genuine—rose among the 12 Commanders as they gradually dispersed to rest. The night air cooled, but the energy of what they'd witnessed still lingered like static in the air.
Takayoshi stood under the moonlight a little longer, glancing up toward the stars.
He sighed… then shook his head with a faint, knowing smirk.
"Idiot…"
Scene: Dual Paths – Sword and Shadow
The halls of the Mythral Dawn estate finally fell quiet as the night deepened. Laughter and drunken antics gave way to snoring and the soft glow of rune-lamps dimmed behind shuttered windows.
Takayoshi slipped into his assigned quarters without fanfare.
The moment the door clicked shut behind him, his expression shifted from the relaxed smile of a mysterious martial mentor to the quiet sharpness of a man returning to the weight of his truth.
He reached into his cloak and activated the Teleportation Marker.
With a shimmer of magic and a ripple in the fabric of space—
He vanished.
[Continent of Terravane – Remote Training Grounds, Midnight]
A gust of warm wind brushed the treetops of the wilderness as the air shimmered with spatial energy. Alter emerged beneath the stars, his wolf cloak discarded in favor of his true form—armor faintly gleaming, the legendary blade Astral Requiem resting diagonally across his back like a slumbering storm.
His boots touched the familiar soil of the camp. Torches still burned low in the perimeter. He saw the old obstacle course of hell... now a mild morning jog for the two wolves-in-training.
"...They've grown," he murmured.
From behind a stack of crates, Finn emerged—leaner, sharper, eyes alert.
Mira followed, light on her feet as always, twirling one of her daggers while munching on dried fruit. Blazebloom, wearing a crown of mushrooms this time, rumbled sleepily and waved a paw.
"Master!" Mira beamed.
"Welcome back," Finn added with a faint smirk.
They lined up, eyes bright with pride.
"We cleared a dungeon yesterday," Finn said. "Brought back loot. Mostly low-tier, but we cataloged everything."
Mira nodded enthusiastically. "We did it with a team this time! No one died. And I only tripped once!"
Alter raised a brow. "Progress, then."
He gestured to the clearing. "Show me."
The sparring session began.
Finn lunged in with dagger feints and footwork tighter than ever before, while Mira danced in with misdirecting spins and speed bursts that left wind currents in her wake. Blazebloom, somehow both terrifying and comedic, launched embers and body-slam charges with discipline that bordered on military formation—if military bears wore flower crowns and wiggled their butts.
Alter, clad in divine armor, parried everything with bare hands. No magic. No internal force. Just form, movement, and martial instinct refined beyond mortal reach.
He guided their strikes with palm counters, redirected their momentum with elbow shifts, tapped pressure points with surgical grace. He never struck hard—but every move corrected something.
When it ended, they were panting, grinning, drenched in sweat.
"Well done," he said. "You've surpassed what I once called Tier One."
Finn blinked. "So we're Tier Two now?"
"You're... second graders."
Finn: "…What."
Mira laughed so hard she nearly fell on Blazebloom.
Later, as the fire crackled low and the trio slept beneath their wolf-hide blankets, Alter sat alone with Astral Requiem across his knees.
His thoughts returned to Seraveth. To the Mythral Dawn estate. To Selene's expectant eyes and the lie he so smoothly told.
"Eight techniques, huh…"
He sighed.
"…I suppose I'll need to invent them now."
He rose slowly and stepped into the clearing. The moonlight bathed the ground in silver, perfect for solo sword drills.
He began to train.
The blade danced.
He revisited Dimensional Slash and refined its initiation speed. Then came the concept of Life Sprinkler—a formless movement meant to scatter fate like shattered glass. He was still in the experimental stages, but something was forming.
"Divine Heaven Sword Style…" he muttered.
Here, on Terravane, he would shape it.
Meanwhile – Continent of Seraveth
Alter teleported to back to train the 12 commanders. As Takayoshi—same man, different mask—stood calmly among the training grounds of Mythral Dawn, hands behind his back as the 12 commanders lined up once more.
"Again," he ordered.
Their groans were met with his flat stare.
"Until you stop looking like drunk ducks on a pond. Again."
Here, on Seraveth, he would shape the Demon God Killing Martial Arts.
Two continents.
Two identities.
One evolving legacy.
And soon—two unmatched paths of destruction would be completed.
Scene: Twin Flames Ascend – Sword and Fist Sharpened
Time passed—but for Alter, it blurred.
Between the continent of Seraveth, where the elite Twelve Commanders awaited instruction under the mysterious martial master Takayoshi, and the continent of Terravane, where the white and black wolves honed their fangs beside their guardian Alter, his days were a blur of battle, training, laughter, and the silent pursuit of perfection.
He had dungeon dived with both teams.
Fought monsters that blotted out the sun.
Shattered bosses in crumbling labyrinths.
Refined new variations mid-fight and evolved his internal strikes in the crucible of real combat.
And now—
[SYSTEM NOTICE]
Your level has increased!
Current Level: 327
A faint smirk tugged at his lips as he stood on a lonely cliff at dawn, overlooking Terravane's frost-kissed horizon.
"Not bad."
He had become a shadow—drifting between two worlds.
In Seraveth, he remained Takayoshi, mentor of fists, master of internal strikes, bearer of an old challenge with Alter. The 12 commanders, now stronger than ever, had come to respect and trust him implicitly. They trained under his gaze with fierce reverence—still unaware of the truth behind the calm man behind the mask.
In Terravane, he stood tall and unveiled as himself—Alter, clad in divine draconic armor, Astral Requiem across his back, protector of Finn and Mira, walking sword of destruction. His power grew with each dungeon. Each monster. Each test.
But today, he sat alone in the shade of a rocky overhang, flipping through the Skill Store.
His eyes moved quickly.
He had recovered his stamina too easily—high vitality, battlefield recovery, and his internal mastery allowed him to push beyond mortal thresholds. He no longer needed rest like before. But there was still one mortal nuisance:
"Hunger. Still annoying."
He tapped.
[You have learned Passive Skill: Stomach of the Void]
Effect: Nullifies hunger. You no longer require food or drink to sustain your body.
He blinked.
"…Finally."
He wasn't even sure if he should be impressed or horrified by the name. Stomach of the Void sounded like something a dungeon boss might scream mid-monologue.
He continued scrolling.
His gaze sharpened as he came across sword techniques—elegant, versatile, and filled with potential. He spent his remaining skill points without hesitation.
[You have acquired 12 Sword Skills:]
Phantom Severance
Spiral Fang
Crescent Draw
Heavenstep Cleave
Bladewind Mirage
Void Thread Slash
Echo Reap
Arc Sever
Featherline Break
Bloodwake Step
Horizon Fang
Starwave Shear
He exhaled, a quiet fire rising in his chest.
These weren't meant to remain fragmented skills.
They were raw essence, the veins and nerves of a style not yet fully born.
He would take the best mechanics, core principles, and striking philosophies from each—and fold them into the Divine Heaven Sword Style.
Back in Terravane, the dungeons were plentiful.
And he dove into them alone.
Each boss became a whetstone.
Each strike became a test.
And behind him, Finn, Mira, and Blazebloom continued growing under the eternal shadow of the mountain that raised them.
Meanwhile, across the sea—Takayoshi stood at the front of the Seraveth training grounds.
The 12 commanders, drenched in sweat and pride, knelt with battered weapons and glowing auras.
"You're improving," Takayoshi said flatly.
Revyn groaned, "That sounds suspiciously like a compliment."
He ignored it. "Rest. Eat. Tomorrow we move to layered movement drills."
Ilyra muttered, "We just started walking again today…"
Selene, meanwhile, quietly gripped her blade.
She said nothing—but her eyes watched Takayoshi like he was a mountain she planned to climb.
And far away, in the same breath, Alter, alone in a dungeon, whispered:
"Eight techniques…"
He swung his blade.
A monster split into five pieces before it could roar.
"…Let's make that real."
Scene: Twin Shadows – The Birth of the Mirror Blade
Two days passed.
Alter stood on a jagged cliff's edge within a dungeon known as Whispersink Hollow, deep in the wilds of Terravane. His draconic armor shimmered faintly under the flickering mana lights lining the cave walls. Beneath his boots, the stone had cracked from his earlier tests—echoes of power still humming through the air.
But now, he wasn't swinging his blade.
He was still. Focused. Eyes narrowed on the glowing interface before him.
[SKILL STORE – SEARCH TERM: CLONE | DUPLICATION | AUGMENTATION]
Lines of shimmering glyphs flickered down in endless succession. But Alter wasn't just reading. He was dissecting.
He had an idea—one insane enough to fit perfectly within the legacy of the Demon God Killing Martial Arts and the Divine Heaven Sword Style.
"What if… my strikes didn't just come from me?"
He'd joked once about Gamma Knife Radiosurgery—a convergence of multiple high-speed, high-precision forces all directed at a single point.
Now?
He could make that real.
He analyzed the first set of skills:
Spectral Split – Creates an ephemeral clone for 3 seconds. Shares 50% of user's stats.
Phantom Bind – Anchor a clone in place to perform a single technique.
Echo Shell – Allows a clone to mimic a technique you've executed within 5 seconds.
Conscious Pulse – Channel your awareness into the clone temporarily.
Astral Reinforcement – Augments clone's stability and damage by 25%.
Soul Chain Link – Clone shares your senses, perfect timing window unlocked.
Residual Manifest – Extend clone's duration by 10 seconds.
Unity Protocol – Clone can activate skills as if it were you.
Individually? Impressive.
Together?
"If I combine all eight…"
He slowly grinned.
"…then I could… create a clone that persists, attacks independently, coordinates attacks…"
"…and executes internal strikes or sword skills alongside me."
His hand hovered over the confirmation button.
[Would you like to purchase these 8 skills for 164,000 SP?]
Note: Purchase grants access to unique synthesis path: [Twin Soul Projection]
[CONFIRM]
[Skills Acquired!]
New Fusion Path Unlocked: Twin Soul Projection – Mirror Blade Awakening
You may now initiate clone-crafting synthesis. Would you like to begin integration?
YES.
The process began immediately. Runes formed, dancing across his skin, etching ghost-light into the runic circuits hidden beneath his bracers.
A system voice echoed into the stillness.
"Initialization complete."
You may now create a permanent combat clone using a condensed soul echo, bound by spatial markers and sustained through your own mana network.
Skill Created: [Mirror Blade – Twin Soul Projection]
Summon a persistent clone at 80% of your base stats. Can perform all learned physical and sword skills. Lasts until dispelled or destroyed.
Cooldown: 24 hours. Duration: Permanent unless killed.
Limit: One active clone at a time.
Advanced Evolution Possible.
Alter closed his hand slowly. He stared into his palm.
"I can attack from multiple angles now…"
"...synchronize internal bursts..."
"...and if I time the movements..."
His voice was a whisper now.
"Then I can make Convergence Break... real."
The 18th Strike—no longer just theory.
It had a shape now.
He exhaled slowly.
His clone flickered into existence beside him—a perfect double, eyes just as sharp, stance just as still. Its aura rippled with restrained force.
He didn't smile.
He simply turned to it.
"Let's begin."
Scene: Life Beyond the Edge – The Sprinkler That Wasn't
Deep within the cracked ruins of Whispersink Hollow, Alter stood alone—well, mostly.
Beside him stood his glowing duplicate: Mirror Blade, humming softly like a second heartbeat. Identical stance. Identical poise. A perfect mimic, down to the way both of them tilted their heads at the same angle.
He exhaled, his gaze sharpening.
"This was it. The technique I bluffed. Life Sprinkler... the Divine Heaven Final Style."
He tightened his grip on Astral Requiem, the hilt cool beneath his fingertips.
He visualized the motion—twelve interwoven strikes, rotating like celestial petals. A lotus of annihilation, born from perfectly timed, layered arcs. He moved to execute.
The clone dashed left. He dashed right.
The first two slashes landed perfectly—symmetrical, clean.
Then came the trouble.
Strike three from the clone came a beat too soon.
Strike four missed entirely—slicing nothing but damp air.
By strike six, their timing fell apart.
Alter's wrist twisted the wrong way mid-spin and his boot skidded on loose stone, nearly sending him crashing into his own clone.
The grand spiral of divine slashes?
More like an awkward spin cycle with two men trying to chop invisible flies while doing synchronized yoga.
A wild clang! echoed through the chamber as both swords slammed harmlessly into the wall—one after the other—with all the elegance of a tavern brawl.
"...That was not a blooming lotus," Alter muttered, slowly rubbing his temple.
His clone flickered beside him like it too was disappointed.
A chunk of wall gave up the will to stand and collapsed to the floor with a soft thunk.
[Skill Attempt Failed – Divine Heaven Final Style: Life Sprinkler]
Reason: Execution breakdown due to desynchronized multi-source timing.
Clone's sword path divergence: 0.21 seconds off-beat.
User balance stability: compromised during rotational phase.
Recommendation: Reassess coordination rhythm. Consider lowering expectations of divine artistry on first attempt.
Alter stared blankly at the error prompt, then looked at his clone.
"…Maybe we start with something less poetic. Like 'Stab Very Hard in Twelve Directions.'"
The clone offered no response. It simply crossed its arms.
"…Don't look at me like that. You messed up your third strike."
He sat on a rock, brooding while the dust settled.
"So it's not just about simultaneous striking—it's about rotational rhythm… offset arc convergence… pulse sequencing…"
The theory still held power. The technique was possible. He just wasn't ready.
Not yet.
But he would be.
Scene: Echoes of Mastery – Twin Roads, Twin Tempests
Continent: Terravane – Within the Crystal-Entombed Dungeon "Gleamsorrow Bastion"
The deep-blue caverns shimmered like frozen stars, each wall paneled in crystalline glass that reflected Alter's every motion—twin reflections dancing on either side of the real him.
Alter's grip tightened on Astral Requiem.
The walls were perfect for this.
"Again," he muttered, the glimmering chamber catching his voice and flinging it back in endless echo.
His clone formed beside him—Mirror Blade, now sharper, clearer, synced to his very breath.
"Twelve strikes, spiral convergence. Let's time it by pulse, not rhythm…"
They stepped in.
And the world blurred.
Strike one. Arc swift, divine.
Strike two. Clone matched it to the millisecond.
Strike three. A pivot-flip, sliding into a side slash.
Strike four through nine blurred into a helix of pure force—slash, rotate, pivot, strike—the air thick with phantom trails.
Then—
Strike ten slipped.
A single fraction too early.
The rotation faltered. Momentum broke. Astral Requiem scraped awkwardly against a wall of glowing ore, and the clone missed its next mark entirely.
[Warning: Clone Divergence – 0.14 seconds off pattern]
Alter exhaled, not in frustration—but in focus.
"Closer… this time we reached the tenth strike."
The Divine Heaven Final Style – Life Sprinkler… still not ready.
But it was becoming real.
Meanwhile: Continent of Seraveth – Mythral Dawn Estate
In the early dawn haze, Takayoshi stood shirtless on the training grounds, steam rising from his shoulders. Around him, the twelve commanders sat in a loose ring, panting from morning sparring.
He crouched, fists hovering above the ground.
"Seventeenth Strike…"
His eyes narrowed.
"Sound… pressure… echo chamber…"
His palm moved an inch.
A ping rang out, faint as a snapped wire.
Nothing exploded. No wind followed.
But Arinelle's ears twitched.
"Did anyone… hear that?"
Mira Snowveil blinked. "It sounded like a chime. But my bones hurt."
Takayoshi stood.
"Sound travels in waves. If I can fold those waves through the body… internal damage, no visible wound."
He raised his hand again.
"If I mix pulse force with reverberation... I could strike organs directly."
A shadow-monster construct flickered into form beside him—a training dummy laced with monster essence.
Takayoshi struck.
A soft hum echoed.
Nothing. Then, a second later, the dummy's chest imploded inward, as if crushed by an invisible sonic boom.
The 12 Commanders went silent.
Revyn blinked. "Okay that was new."
Thorne scratched his beard. "No wind, no punch, and the thing just… collapsed?"
Takayoshi stood straight and flexed his wrist.
"Still unstable. If the resonance phase is even a millisecond off, I miss. But if it works…"
He exhaled.
"Seventeenth Strike: Resonance Pulse."
Elsewhere, Later That Night
Back in his quarters, Takayoshi washed his hands at the basin. The water rippled with lingering vibrations.
He looked at his reflection—and whispered with a smirk,
"Still keeping up with me, aren't you, Alter?"
He paused.
Then smirked again.
"…Oh right. That's me."
Scene: Reflections Across Worlds – Two Paths, One Soul
[Terravane – Twilight Cavern, Depths Unknown]
Dust scattered beneath Alter's boots as his blade arced through the air, carving trails of condensed light.
Astral Requiem sang.
Twelve slashes spiraled outward, forming an imperfect lotus of strikes. The final step faltered—again. The convergence lost rhythm.
"Too shallow," he muttered, lowering the blade. "Seventh rotation lacked inward pull."
Then it happened.
A flicker. His hand trembled.
He blinked—and in his mind's eye, he saw a fist crash into a stone pillar half a world away.
[Seraveth – Mythral Dawn Training Grounds]
Takayoshi stood shirtless in the center of the training ring. His foot twisted into the dirt. His left arm retracted. The muscles on his back flexed with precision.
Then—
BOOM.
The air shattered.
A shockwave pulsed from his palm—not outward, but inward, concentrated within the target dummy.
The wooden figure didn't explode.
It imploded—collapsing inwards like a crumpled lung, groaning under the sheer pressure of compressive force.
Several of the 12 Commanders screamed.
Selene dropped her sword. "What was that!?"
Takayoshi exhaled, wiping his brow. "…The first iteration of the Seventeenth Strike."
[Terravane – Twilight Cavern]
Alter stumbled mid-form—then steadied himself. His eyes gleamed.
"Sound. Vibration… compression vectors… you're using soundwave theory to create internal destruction... brilliant."
He grinned, then raised Astral Requiem again.
"In that case—let's push Life Sprinkler to counter that force with spiral oscillation."
He leapt forward, spinning.
Twelve arcs. Then a thirteenth. The thirteenth bled into the fourteenth with a delay.
For a moment—just a sliver of a heartbeat—the air around him warped.
But it wasn't perfect. Not yet.
Still…
[Seraveth – Training Grounds]
Takayoshi froze, blinking toward the horizon.
Selene tilted her head. "Something wrong?"
"…No," he said with a faint smile. "He's close."
"Who?"
"…A swordsman. Chasing a final form."
The 12 Commanders stared, slightly unnerved.
Revyn squinted. "Was that poetic? Did he just go poetic on us?"
Thorne folded his arms. "First he punches ghosts into wood. Now he's talking in riddles."
[Dual Internal Thought – Shared Connection]
Sword and fist.
Spiral and rupture.
Piercing heavens. Shattering demons.
One path. One soul. Shared destiny.
[System Notification – (Visible to Alter Only)]
⚔️ Dual Progression Bonus Activated
Mirror Blade clone in combat training: +42% EXP efficiency
Technique Sharing Enabled
Synchronization: 96.3%
New Concept: "Sonic Core Implosion" registered as Seventeenth Strike (Prototype)
Alter smiled as the cavern's walls echoed with the hum of his blade.
Takayoshi rolled his shoulders, drawing a circle in the sand as the commanders watched in awe.
They were in different lands, under different skies, but their growth was unified—a symphony of evolution played in two hands, across sword and fist.
Scene: Horizon Severed – Divine Heaven Third Form
[Terravane – Ruins of the Hollow Gale]
Deep within the stone ribs of an ancient skyfaring beast—its fossilized remains forming twisted towers in a forgotten valley—Alter stood alone.
The wind howled like it remembered war.
His cloak fluttered around him, eyes calm, focused.
Before him: a training construct forged of blacksteel, reinforced with layered enchantments. Unbreakable to most. Immune to raw magic. Resistant to shock.
It had survived hours of beatings.
Now… it would face completion.
"Divine Heaven Sword Style," he whispered, lifting Astral Requiem, "Third Form."
His breath stilled.
No birds. No wind.
Silence—unnatural, perfect.
"So far, I've had Piercing Thrust... Anti-Air Ascension… and now…"
He narrowed his eyes.
"Form Three—must be the culmination of momentum, timing, and rotational inertia."
He thought of conservation of angular momentum—the gyroscopic force that stabilizes a system.
"If I spiral the blade's force at precise offset vectors, the acceleration will not merely spin—it will collapse into a singular directional burst."
His sword arm moved.
Slowly—a spiral.
Then he stepped forward, letting the blade orbit around him, not once—but thrice, each faster than the last.
Astral Requiem screamed. Its path blurred into a helix of light.
And then—
Everything snapped.
The final spin compressed, the energy folding inward—
—then snapped outward in a single, narrow release of catastrophic force.
The world didn't explode.
It sliced.
Like a guillotine of air and light.
[Visual Result]
The unbreakable construct collapsed backward, split at a molecular level, yet with no visible blade impact.
A small ridge in the earth stretched for fifty meters, clean-cut, like a divine scalpel had kissed the land.
A second later… the air behind the slash exploded, delayed by the sheer speed of the force.
[System Notification – Visible to Alter Only]
✅ Divine Heaven Third Style Unlocked
Name: Helix Sever – Horizon Spiral Cut
Type: Rotational Spiral Slash
Affinity: Wind + Physics Resonance
Effect: Builds rotational force through triple-helix arcs before compressing into a single-line horizon slash. The slash is silent and undetectable until it connects.
Ignores armor if rotational force exceeds material limit.
Delayed AOE backlash occurs 1.5 seconds after impact.
World Rule Anchor: Angular Catastrophe
→ Final spiral gains true velocity beyond sound and mass-shear threshold. Cannot be blocked by static barriers.
Alter lowered the blade.
His brow was slightly damp, but his breathing was calm.
"Third Form… done," he murmured. "The helix model works."
He turned away from the still-sparking trench in the earth, eyes alight.
"Four down. Four more to forge…"
His fingers tapped the hilt of Astral Requiem, then drew a glyph in the air—a marker.
"Back to Seraveth soon. Let's see what Takayoshi's martial body is up to."
His silhouette vanished in a soft crack of space-folding.
But behind him…
…the wind stopped singing.
Because it had no throat left to sing with.
Scene: Echoes Shattered – The 17th Strike Begins
[Continent of Seraveth – Mythral Dawn Training Grounds]
The morning mist hung like a curtain over the earth.
The courtyard behind the estate was still, dew glistening on worn stone tiles. Training dummies stood like condemned souls awaiting judgment.
Takayoshi stood shirtless beneath the rising sun, steam rising faintly from his skin as if his body rejected the cold air.
His knuckles were bruised. His arms wrapped in fresh cloth.
He had been training since nightfall.
And the 17th strike refused to be born.
"The 16th strike—Layered Burst—compressed force in triple frequency. But the final result was explosive penetration…"
He narrowed his eyes.
"What if... I don't strike with force… but with resonance?"
His mind dove into memory.
The collapse of glass from a single soprano's note.
The way vibration accumulates in material—until it forgets how to hold together.
"The body isn't just bones. It's a field of tension."
He turned to the first training dummy—reinforced with layered alloy plates and bound with shock-dampening gel.
"Let's find the resonant frequency of flesh and armor."
He exhaled.
Then stepped forward—and punched.
Not hard.
Not deep.
But with a sharp, high-frequency vibration carried at the point of contact. Like a tuning fork striking marrow.
Crack.
The dummy did not move.
It quivered.
Then… slowly… its chest buckled inward, folding like a crushed drum.
[Martial Arts Concept Unlocked – 17th Strike: Resonant Rupture (Prototype)]
Type: Internal Harm – Sonic Vibration
Effect: Delivers a wave of micro-vibrations tuned to penetrate organic and armored matter.
Ignores surface armor if resonance is maintained.
Causes internal hemorrhage, balance loss, and deep trauma after 3 seconds.
Enemies struck feel no pain—until they collapse.
Warning: Requires precision control. Risk of recoil.
Takayoshi stepped back, flexing his hand.
Blood dripped from his knuckle.
"Still unstable," he muttered. "Needs resonance isolation on the final pulse."
He turned to a stone column—reinforced, etched with protective glyphs.
Strike Two.
Thuuum.
The column didn't shatter.
It imploded halfway up, folding in on itself as a violent hum ripped through the ground. Pebbles trembled in the air, levitating from vibration alone.
"Hmm…" He rotated his shoulder, chuckling. "Alter would've named this something cooler by now. I'll settle for Resonant Rupture... until he fixes it."
A voice called from the nearby balcony.
Selene, holding a steaming cup of tea, hair still damp from her morning wash.
"Takayoshi," she called down, "you're scaring the birds again."
He waved without turning around.
"They can learn to resonate."
She blinked.
"…What?"
"Never mind," he muttered.
He exhaled. Another stance. Another attempt.
This time—he'd push the resonance to harmonic singularity.
And maybe, just maybe—reach the next layer.
[System Update – Synchronic Feedback Achieved]
🌀 Mirror Blade Clone Takayoshi has developed 17th Strike Prototype
→ Transmitting synchronized neural experience to Core Body [Alter].
→ Combat Progression: +2.1%
Scene: Divine Heaven Sword Style – Forging the Fourth and Fifth
[Location: Abyssal Rift – Subterranean Echo Dungeon | Terravane]
The dungeon roared with seismic pressure—an underground gorge carved by ancient quakes. Its walls pulsed with elemental tremors. Lightning cracked through veins of crystal above, illuminating Alter, alone, standing on a jutting stone outcrop amidst the chaos.
His back was straight. His sword—Astral Requiem—rested in his left hand, angled down like a scalpel before surgery.
"I've perfected three styles," he murmured. "Dimensional Slash. Sky Piercer. Life Sprinkler—still unfinished…"
"It's time for the Fourth."
Divine Heaven – Fourth Sword Style: Graviton Cleave
Concept: Vectorized Momentum Transfer
Inspiration: Physics of Gravity + Kinetic Redirection
Execution: A diagonal slash that stores and redirects the momentum of enemy attacks or movement into a hyper-focused riposte.
Cancels forward kinetic energy from a charging enemy.
Launches counter-force as a blade-locked gravitational cleave.
Momentum stacks can increase the power of the slash exponentially.
Ideal vs. heavy foes or charging beasts.
In front of him, a Titan-Scaled Earth Serpent crashed down—its roar shaking the cavern.
It lunged.
Alter stood still.
The moment the beast neared, he pivoted, drawing in the raw force of its charge—then twisted his body through a fluid arc. Astral Requiem pulsed with starlit force.
Graviton Cleave – RELEASE.
A silence.
Then—BOOM.
The serpent's head twisted backward unnaturally, its body flying sideways into a canyon wall as if flung by gravity itself. The impact crater bloomed with dust and shattered rock.
Alter exhaled.
"That's the Fourth."
He turned. Dozens of monsters crawled toward him—drawn by the seismic rift.
Perfect.
He needed a canvas for the Fifth Style.
"Something that controls the field… not a single point…"
"Not a strike. A sweep."
He knelt and touched the stone.
"Sound waves travel in all directions. Pressure travels with frequency. Light… bends in pulses."
He raised Astral Requiem.
And began to spin.
Divine Heaven – Fifth Sword Style: Heaven's Spiral Pulse
Concept: Area-wide Resonance + Frequency Modulation
Inspiration: Shockwave physics + Spiral Energy Distribution
Execution: A spinning wide-blade sweep that creates expanding ring-like shockwaves of slashing force.
Shockwaves maintain cutting integrity through harmonic frequency locking.
Can disarm multiple enemies or shred armor in an AOE.
Intensity increases with each rotation; best used once per battle.
Visual: Radiant spirals ripple from the sword like galactic rings.
The monsters rushed in.
Alter pivoted once—his blade glowing with celestial pressure.
Heaven's Spiral Pulse – ACTIVATE.
The first rotation sent out a visible ring of force—thin, sharp, and rippling outward.
The second—deeper, almost glowing with violet fractal energy.
The third—BOOM.
The entire cavern shook.
Monsters were flung in spirals—some shredded midair, others blasted apart as if struck by orbiting blades.
Dust cleared. Alter stood at the center of a crater of death.
His cloak fluttered.
"Two down."
"Three more sword styles to fulfill the lie I told Selene…" he muttered, half-smiling. "At this rate, I may need to make it truth."
[System Update]
🗡️ Divine Heaven Sword Style – Technique 4: Graviton Cleave – [Mastered]
🗡️ Divine Heaven Sword Style – Technique 5: Heaven's Spiral Pulse – [Mastered]
🎖️ New Combat Concept Registered: Kinetic-Aetheric Synchronization
📈 Current Level: 337 (+10)
⚡ Physical and Mental Recovery Sustained via Creator Vital Adaptation
As he sheathed Astral Requiem, a whisper echoed in his mind—not from Seraphina, not from the system.
But from Takayoshi.
An urge. A movement. The feedback of the Resonant Rupture training.
Alter smirked.
"So you figured it out."
"Keep going. I'll forge the Sixth while you carve the 18th."
Scene: Dual Horizons – Twin Echoes of the Blade and Fist
The world breathed in two halves.
On the continent of Terravane, a storm split the skies above a shattered dungeon field. The grass was scorched from dozens of collapsed monsters—massacred not by spells or explosions, but by something far more refined.
At the epicenter stood Alter, sword in hand. Astral Requiem shimmered with faint afterglow, pulsing gently in the rhythm of his breathing. His eyes narrowed.
A new resonance surged through him—the aftershock of Heaven's Spiral Pulse still vibrating through the air, invisible to the eye but felt in the marrow. He slowly sheathed the blade, the circular indentations on the battlefield left like ripples in stone.
"Five forms now…" he murmured. "Each one heavier. Sharper. Faster."
A system prompt flickered.
[Skill Mastery Increased – Fifth Sword Style: Heaven's Spiral Pulse – Lv.3]
[You have gained insight into harmonic blade resonance.]
Alter exhaled, then dropped to a knee. Not from exhaustion—but from focus.
He flipped through the next list of theories he'd jotted down, drawn from rotational mechanics, waveform synthesis, and particle resonance. His mind was a forge, and physics were his hammer. But a thought interrupted his rhythm…
"…He's starting the 17th strike."
Across the continent of Seraveth, in a remote ravine where no paths existed, Takayoshi's fist hovered inches from the stone wall. The boulder—massive and unyielding—stood tall like a silent challenge.
He clenched his hand, breathing slowly.
Then struck.
The impact seemed soft. A tap, nothing more. But moments later—BOOM!
The rock cracked—not at the point of contact, but from within. Fractures spiderwebbed outward in jagged chaos, like lightning frozen in stone.
Takayoshi rolled his shoulder with a wince. "Still unstable..."
[Martial Concept: 17th Strike – Harmonic Implosion (Incomplete)]
[Theory: Directional shockburst via controlled internal soundwave collapse.]
He sat down cross-legged, placing a hand on his chest.
"I need finer control over frequency layering. If the waves overlap too soon, they cancel each other. Too late… no amplification."
He blinked—his mind echoing with Alter's earlier sword wave, Heaven's Spiral Pulse.
"...so that's where you're heading."
In perfect synchrony, across distance and form, both Alter and Takayoshi moved as one. Each trained separately—but their thoughts, instincts, and understandings passed fluidly between them.
A blade carving spirals of resonance.
A fist shattering bone with internal reverb.
Two paths—same origin.
One soul—split in purpose.
But united in growth.
That night, Alter stood beneath the Terravane stars, holding Astral Requiem loosely at his side. He smiled faintly, watching the blade refract moonlight.
And somewhere far away, Takayoshi whispered into the wind, seated alone in a canyon of broken boulders—
"Still keeping up with me, aren't you…?"