The entrance door opened, and two figures walked in. It was deathly silent, but the door led to a gigantic dome. The area didn’t have the appearance of a cave—there was grass, tiny rivers, a light acting as a sun, and even flowers. It was as if the two figures had stepped directly outside.

  There was a table, and a single person sat there. He had pale skin, long brown hair, a skinny frame, and a cup of tea in his hand. The person was a man.

  “Welcome in, you two. You can call me Tetho,” said the man.

  Tetho stood up and performed a fist-and-palm salute, formally greeting the two figures. The two figures slowly walked toward him and greeted him in their own way.

  “I assume the Seven Suns sent you to deal with us. Not trying to talk down on you guys, but you don’t stand a chance against the master—if you even make it that far.”

  One of the figures rolled their eyes while the other let out a slight chuckle.

  “I don’t intend on fighting so soon. I simply want to talk real quick,” said Tetho as he continued.

  “You all aren’t the first disciples that the Seven Suns have taken in. In fact, you aren’t even the second or third. They’ve taken many disciples before you all came along, and the process has been repeating over and over again. The Shadow Warriors were a group meant to stop that.”

  “The disciples before you all met the same exact fate. Their masters honed their powers, trained them to ‘be their successor,’ and then—suddenly—they all vanished. This scenario repeated multiple times, and they all kept vanishing without a trace. It’s unknown what happened to them, but every disciple would randomly disappear. That was until the last seven disciples came to be. One by one, they all disappeared—except one of them. Sadly, he’s been in a coma for years, so nobody has been able to speak with him. He’s been protected by very strong guards on a 24/7 watch to preserve his life.”

  “This phenomenon has been noticed by many people among the sanctuaries, and when someone would ask their respective Seven Sun for the location of their disciple, they would all make up an excuse. ‘He’s in closed-door cultivation,’ ‘He’s out training,’ ‘He’s exploring the world’—and so on. They refused to give the location of their disciple no matter how many times they were asked. The disciple in a coma is the last hope to uncover the truth behind their disappearance. Only he has the answer.”

  “With this information, you all are in the same boat. It’s only a matter of time before you all start to go missing one by one. It won’t happen soon—you have to get stronger first. They’ll train you, make you stronger and smarter, help you reach your potential—and then you’ll vanish. With this information, do you still intend on fulfilling their mission?”

  If these words were true, they were life-changing. The Seven Sinners were all of young age, with the intention of getting stronger. They didn’t want to believe Tetho’s words outright, but it raised questions. If the many disciples before them had disappeared, that meant they were next—if his words were true.

  They didn’t want to believe this, but the thought would now linger in the backs of their minds.

  “Whether these words are true or not, I will get stronger no matter what. I don’t intend on disappearing, nor do I intend on letting a home control my future. You won’t fool me with these words.” This was spoken by none other than Zazi—the blindfolded boy in white armor.

  “You have a nice set of armor there. Did your master give it to you?” asked Tetho.

  “It’s a family artifact. It’s none of your business.” Zazi felt annoyed. He couldn’t deduce whether the man was playing mind games or telling the truth, but he didn’t like the feeling he got from Tetho.

  “So annoying. Is this all you wanted to talk about?” blurted Aoto. Tetho was even starting to annoy Aoto with his talking.

  Tetho sighed.

  “I see you aren’t interested in conversation, so that settles it. I hope you both don’t have hope in winning against me. If so, you’re in for a rude awakening,” chuckled Tetho.

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  “I prepared a nice area for this conversation, but it seems all my efforts are in vain. If you really want to fight, then have at it. I intend on finishing this as fast as possible. After all, I’m a very busy guy,” said Tetho.

  A book materialized in his hand and flipped through pages until it landed on one and stopped. A big red light formed far in the sky, and a humongous sword manifested.

  “Take my blade and perish!”

  ”God’s Blade!”

  The humongous blade shot out of the sky toward Aoto and Zazi. It was over fifty feet long and tens of feet wide.

  “Stand back, Zazi. I’ll handle it,” said Aoto.

  “Oh, look! A brave one stepped forward. Let’s see your limit, shall we?” laughed Tetho.

  The sword sped down toward Aoto and Zazi. Aoto smirked, put his hand forward, and made contact with the blade. He didn’t punch. He didn’t even use his entire hand. He simply used one finger. One finger was all it took, and the entire blade shattered into pieces.

  “What the hell is your power!? How could you casually destroy it with simply a finger!?” yelled Tetho.

  He hadn’t seen anyone capable of negating one of his attacks so easily. It wasn’t just that it was negated—but how easily Aoto did it. Someone like the master could negate it with a simple touch, but someone in the First Awakening? That surprised him.

  “No matter. I have a bigger arsenal than you can even imagine. Now, burn in hell!!” exclaimed Tetho.

  “Fires of Hell!”

  Pillars of fire shot up from underneath the ground, sending flames into the air. The temperature in the arena skyrocketed, and the flames started to cover the entire ground.

  “That’s it? You talk big for somebody so weak.” Aoto expected much better from Tetho, but the power behind his abilities seemed lacking. He leaned his arm back and swung, unleashing a huge gust of wind. All of the fire immediately went out—like a person blowing out a candle. Everything Aoto had done so far was by pure strength backed by his power of synergy. He didn’t think this guy was worthy of pushing him to use his actual abilities.

  “Hahaha, okay—I get it. I went easy, but I didn’t expect you to be this strong. I’ll step it up to match you, then. I summon you to the material plane—my knight in armor!”

  Immediately after he finished, the world shook. Everything was trembling like an earthquake.

  A sword pierced through the ground, accompanied by a hand. The hand that held the sword dropped it, and both hands were placed flatly on the ground. The figure used its strength to pull itself out of the earth with a loud roar that shook everything until it fully emerged. It stood up and towered over everyone. It was extremely tall and seemed to be a servant summoned by the man. It had a humanoid appearance, but it was fully covered in silver armor.

  “Let’s see if you can handle this, tough guy.” Tetho had faith that his knight would be able to battle Aoto. Whether it lost or won didn’t truly matter. He didn’t have the capability to win in a two-on-one, judging from how physically strong Aoto was. As long as the knight could stall while he battled Zazi, it would be fine.

  The knight let out a fierce scream as it ran toward Aoto. Every step made the ground shake as if it were a giant. Within seconds, the knight appeared in front of Aoto. The knight was half a foot taller than him and was extremely agile for its size.

  The knight swung its sword down onto Aoto, who dodged to the side and let out a ferocious punch to its side. When the punch made physical contact with the armor, it let out a loud clang that echoed in the area. Aoto took his arm back and realized he didn’t even make a dent in the armor.

  It would take more than just physical power to defeat the knight.

  While Aoto was busy fighting the knight, Zazi was getting ready for his own battle against Tetho.

  “Now it’s only us. In a two-on-one, I don’t think I’d be able to win—but I excel in one-on-ones. I have a plethora of abilities that you can’t withstand for long!” bragged Tetho. He was confident in his power due to the variety of abilities in his arsenal.

  “That’s weird. He’s used three different abilities—all of which shouldn’t have anything in common. Could he have entered the Second Awakening? No, that can’t be. He seems too weak to be in the Second Awakening. There’s not much time to think—it’ll reveal itself soon enough.” Zazi pushed the thought to the back of his mind. Whether he found the reason or not, he still had to deal with the abilities. He didn’t want to waste time thinking. If there was a conclusion, he would surely reach it in the midst of battle.

  “Plant Domination!”

  Roots and vines made from solid rock started breaking from underground and rushed in the direction of Zazi. Looking at the oncoming roots, he walked forward and pushed his hand out. The vines suddenly turned around and went in the direction of Tetho.

  “Life-Saving Shield!”

  A shield formed around Tetho, stopping the attack of the vines.

  “What the hell are you guys!? Why is nothing working!?” Tetho exclaimed. He couldn’t understand it. Aside from the knight that was battling Aoto—the sword, the fires, and now the vines—had all been completely negated. Was his power simply that weak?

  “Okay, if that doesn’t work, then how about this?” said Tetho.

  Clouds formed in the sky, and an endless amount of rain gathered and shot down toward Zazi. The rain was focused specifically on Zazi and didn’t land anywhere else. Before the rain reached him, it hardened and turned into icicles.

  Zazi gave a slight smirk and simply put his hand out once more. The oncoming icicles immediately changed direction and went toward Tetho, crashing into his shield. None of his abilities were working.

  “This is all pointless. You still have yet to realize it, so I’ll come forward and tell you. After all, you won’t live to see another day. My powers are linked to control. I can control inanimate objects—hence why your attacks only went back toward you. In a sense, it’s similar to telekinesis, but it’s not exactly telekinesis,” explained Zazi.

  “I see. Inanimate objects, you say? Then I simply won’t use objects anymore,” calmly said Tetho.

  “Heed my call…”

  The battle is heating up. What is Tetho’s next move?!