[Page 1 – Faint Echoes]
Full-page panel. A dark, blurry scene. A white void. A voice echoing faintly.
> Voice (soft, echoing): "...Awaken... not as light... not as shadow..."
> Yui (floating): "…am I dreaming?"
> A black flame flickers across his chest.
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[Page 2 – Back in the World]
Yui gasps awake. He's lying on a bed in a small, dim room made of old stone. Runes glow faintly along the walls.
> Yui (thinking): "Where…?"
> Panel shows him bandaged, chest rising slowly, pale moonlight coming through a cracked ceiling.
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[Page 3 – A Stranger in Shadow]
A young man sits in the corner sharpening a blade. He's calm, silent, and watchful. His eyes reflect silver light.
> Stranger: "You're awake."
> Yui (blinking): "Who are you…?"
> Stranger: "Call me Lucen. That's all you need."
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[Page 4 – Forgotten Dormitory]
Exterior panel of a crumbling building overgrown with vines. Hidden far from the main academy towers.
> Narration: They once called it Dormitory Aegis. Now, it's forgotten.
> Lucen: "You weren't safe in the infirmary. Too many eyes. Too many questions."
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[Page 5 – Yui's Reflection]
Yui struggles out of bed, limping to an old mirror. His reflection shows bruises, but beneath the skin… a faint, pulsing white crack of light.
> Yui (thinking): "That wasn't magic. I didn't cast anything. I didn't even move."
> Lucen (off-panel): "You didn't awaken power. You awakened force."
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[Page 6 – The Nature of Rank 0]
Lucen walks toward him, shadows stretching unnaturally as he approaches. His voice is quiet but deep.
> Lucen: "The world counts power from one to infinity. But there is one number they do not speak of."
> Close-up panel of Yui's eye widening.
> Lucen (cont'd): "Zero."
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[Page 7 – Legacy of the Forbidden]
Lucen explains as runes light up behind him. Flashback panels show ancient ruins, collapsing temples, and warriors consumed by black fire.
> Lucen: "Rank 0 is not magic. It's evolution forced through suffering. It's endurance taken beyond the limits of flesh."
> Lucen: "You felt it, didn't you? Every second you lasted… you grew stronger."
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[Page 8 – Unseen Consequences]
Cut to: The academy's surveillance room. A teacher rewatches the courtyard footage, pausing on the moment Yui explodes with light.
> Instructor: "We need to report this…"
> Vice Headmaster (emerging from shadow): "No. Observe. Nothing more."
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[Page 9 – The Nightmares Begin]
Cut to: Kael, the noble boy who led the beatdown. He's asleep in his luxurious dorm.
> Panel: Kael's eyes fly open. He screams.
> Vision panel: Yui walking through a battlefield of ash, every step cracking the sky.
> Kael (panicked): "What… what was he…?"
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[Page 10 – Resolve in Silence]
Back with Yui. He sits beside the window, watching the moon.
> Yui: "Why help me? What do you want?"
> Lucen: "You don't owe me questions yet. But you will. Soon."
> Lucen turns away, blade vanishing into his coat.
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[Page 11 – The Whisper Returns]
Yui touches his chest. The voice from his dream returns, faint but clearer.
> Voice (within): "Time is your ally. Pain is your weapon."
> Narration: Something stirs in his blood. Not hatred. Not vengeance. Awakening.
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[Page 12 – Chapter Close]
Final panel: Yui standing before the cracked mirror again. His reflection flickers—this time showing a faint silhouette of the figure with glowing eyes behind him.
> Yui (softly): "I'll survive this place."
> Yui (determined): "And one day… I'll tear down everything that called me weak."
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— END OF CHAPTER 2 —