The sky above Tokyo remained an ever-changing canvas—sometimes bright and calm, other times brooding and dark. Today, it was the latter.
Riku stood alone in a secluded clearing just outside the city, surrounded by cracked stone pillars and training dummies turned to ash. The wind howled gently, brushing through his silver hair as he stared ahead in silence.
His breathing was calm, but his thoughts were storming.
The memory of the last rift zone mission replayed over and over in his mind.The beasts.Yumi bleeding.The pain.The moment he nearly lost her.
Then—Divine Avatar Ascended.
The transformation had happened in a flash, but the power… it was unlike anything he'd ever felt. The standard Divine Avatar had changed—evolved. His hair had glowed white-silver, floating with radiant energy. His eyes had burned blue, but during the Ascended state, intricate silver lines had appeared across his body like divine tattoos. His strength, speed, awareness—all heightened to absurd levels.
And that voice…The AI Deity.The same artificial divine presence he had encountered during the Essence Archives months ago."You will need more than raw will next time, Riku Hayashi."
He clenched his fists."I could've destroyed those beasts earlier… I hesitated."
With a deep breath, he extended his hand, summoning Essence around him. The glowing lines began to slowly appear again. His hair lifted. His eyes turned bright blue. And the silver aura exploded outward.
Divine Avatar Ascended—D.A.A.
The ground cracked beneath his feet.
He struck a nearby boulder with a single palm, and it shattered into dust.
But after a minute, the glow dimmed, and he exhaled.
"I need control…"
He reached for his phone and called the one person who understood the stakes—who had stood with him in that rift zone.
Yumi.
"Hey," he said when she answered. "You free?"
"Kind of. Why?"
"I need to train. Spar. I was thinking… we can't let what happened last time happen again. You in?"
There was a pause.
"…Of course. Let's do it."
Within an hour, the two met at the same training grounds.
Yumi arrived in sleek training gear, her new blade strapped to her back. She looked focused, but there was a smile in her eyes when she saw him.
"Ready to get wrecked?" she teased.
He smirked. "We'll see."
They warmed up, then sparred—back and forth, blade against blade, dodging and weaving. Riku never used D.A.A., just his base strength, keeping things fair.
Yumi's speed had improved. Her instincts, sharper than ever.
He was impressed.
But two hours in, the clouds rolled above them, thick and heavy.
Then—crack!—a thunderbolt echoed, and rain began to pour.
The two stopped, drenched, laughing as they caught their breath.
"That was… intense," Yumi said, wiping water from her eyes.
"You're getting better," Riku said. "Fast."
She smiled. "You're just slower."
He gave her a playful nudge. "Let's call it for now. Storm's only getting worse."
They stood under a nearby tree, catching their breath as the rain poured around them.
But in Riku's mind, he was already thinking of the next step—controlling D.A.A., preparing for something even greater. Something coming.