"Yes! Our weekly allowance has arrived! Check it out, now I got--- WHAT?! HOW IN THE WORLD?! YOU GOT OVER 3,000?! 3,000?! That's so cool! Seriously? What in the actual goodness did you do to deserve such luck?!" Arman dramatically exclaimed when he saw Raia's True Credits points just as he was about to show his own number.
Arman's True Credits: [1,200]
He grew envious when he saw how different his True Credits were from Raia's.
"Well, I mean, of course, right? I am a good student after all," Raia bragged as he scrolled over to check the combat technique he had received.
'002… So this is his code. I wonder if this code means ranking for them…' Raia then hypothesized that the codes of the instructors or 'the founders of True Haven' served as their form of ranking.
But he didn't dwell on it, as his focus shifted to the Combat Technique Tutorial he got from Matthias.
He opened it and played it. The hologram projected by the Wristband showed a miniature-sized person.
"If you're seeing this, congratulations. You have been chosen. My name is Ren Shang. I will be teaching you the secret combat technique of the Shang Family, called the Twilight Dart Technique. This technique has been passed down from generation to generation. Only our ancestors and those with Shang blood are permitted to have knowledge of it. I am the current master of this technique," the miniature man spoke in front of Raia.
He wore a sleeveless, dark orange-blue shirt with a purplish-pink hue that resembled the sky at dawn or dusk. It even looked like a real person talking, though Raia knew it was a recorded hologram, his speech looked too scripted.
"Unfortunately, the Shang Family has been dealing with a catastrophe as the current holders of the Shang bloodline are unable to conceive children. Even me..."
Sadness resonated in Ren's tone. Raia could feel the devastation. It was heartbreaking to be unable to pass on your legacy. Raia sympathized with the hologram. It might have looked weird to others, but he genuinely felt it.
Luckily, Arman was also immersed in the Combat Technique being displayed by his own Wristband hologram.
"But, as I said, you're very lucky. I made a promise to a friend to pass this technique down to one outsider, someone who fits with it, and now, you have been chosen to guard and use this Shang Family Combat Technique. Get ready. I will now teach you the technique."
The hologram continued, and Raia grew excited.
"The Twilight Dart Technique is a secretive battle art that uses two tightly joined fingers, namely the index and middle fingers, forming a dart to strike key meridians or nerve points of opponents. Once hit, it paralyzes the opponent either partially or fully, depending on the user's precision and energy control. When paralyzed, the opponent sees an illusion... a veil of twilight. This technique requires speed, stealth, and chi manipulation. But most important is a still and focused mind. Now, for the first part of your training, I want you to meditate and balance your chi. As you do, recite these words..."
Raia eagerly and patiently listened as the hologram sat in a lotus position and recited the words.
"Not as bright as day, yet not as dark as night.Not as wicked as evil, yet not as pure as good.They sit upon a fragile line,Holding fast to eternal balance.This is... Twilight."
Raia was mesmerized. He could feel meaning and power inside the poetic lines.
"These words will help you focus and balance the energy inside your body. You have a month to master this. If you understand the passage within that time, you may continue to train. If not, repeat it until you do. But I warn you, this meditation is fundamental. You will never master the Twilight Dart Technique without mastering this first. So, train hard!"
After those final words, the hologram disappeared. Raia stared at the empty space.
'What the heck just happened? Was that it? Really? I mean, he said I should meditate, but I want to see the steps! I want to confirm it!' Raia thought, frustrated but aware that deep inside, he also didn't want to disobey.
As Raia debated whether to rewatch the video or begin meditating, he made up his mind—and began.
He recalled the words and recited them:
"Not as bright as day, yet not as dark as night.Not as wicked as evil, yet not as pure as good.They sit upon a fragile line,Holding fast to eternal balance.This is... Twilight."
Raia repeated the words, sitting cross-legged in lotus position.
As he chanted, he tried to feel something... anything. He sensed energy within him, but it was rough and chaotic, though evenly spread.
He wanted to fix or guide the energies, but each time he focused on them, he stopped chanting. Frustrated, he paused, then tried again.
Each attempt ended the same way. Eventually, he shouted the words in desperation.
Arman had been hearing Raia murmuring but didn't intervene as he assumed Raia was talking to himself again, which he found weird but had grown used to.
But this time, Raia's voice became so loud that Arman was forced to react. He turned, confused.
"What the? Hey, dude! Tone it down!" Arman called out.
Raia stopped. His face flushed with embarrassment.
"S-Sorry… Was I too loud?" he asked, scratching his head, mortified.'Did he hear me say those words? Ugh! That was awful! Now he'll think I'm crazy!'
Arman replied, "I mean, of course. I wouldn't have said anything if you weren't. You're acting really weird… weirder than usual. What were you doing?"
"I was meditating, okay?!" Raia snapped, unable to tolerate the teasing.
"Well, that wasn't meditating. You were just straight-up shouting." Arman squinted suspiciously at Raia's red face.
Raia couldn't take it anymore, so he hurled a pillow at Arman.
"Waaah! What's that for?! I was just trying to say that you're shouting and---"
Another pillow hit his face.
"What are you doing? I was just---"
"Shut up!" Raia yelled, flustered. He leapt onto Arman's bed and grabbed him by the collar. "Say I'm not crazy! I'm not crazyyyy!" he shouted, shaking him violently.
"I didn't say you're crazy..." Arman muttered, dizzy, swirls forming in his eyes.
Raia realized what he'd done and backed away. "I'm sorry! But don't call me crazy again!"
He returned to his bed, grabbed his pillows, and lay down, fuming in embarrassment.
Raia was self-conscious, he didn't like being judged. It made him overthink... even spiral into delusions.
'Why do I have a friend like this?' Arman thought as dizziness overwhelmed him.
"I didn't even say crazy..."
And so, the two friends fell asleep. One passed out from the shaking. The other drifted off from embarrassment and shame.
-----------------------------------
Raia opened his eyes and saw a bright light above him. He was already standing, looking up. He glanced around.
Everything was covered in bright light and fog.
He wandered the vast whiteness and heard something---voices! They grew clearer as he ran towards them.
He could recognize the voices, then he smiled wide.
"Raia! I missed you!"
"I'm so glad you're okay!"
"Raia, I missed you so much, my son!"
"How have you been?!"
He saw shadows on the horizon. The voices grew louder, and his heart leapt.
"Everyone! You're here! My friends… My family… I'm finally home!" Tears welled in his eyes.
But as he got closer, the shadows began to fade.
Raia stopped.
'No... no! It can't be!'
The shadows vanished like mist.
"No… no! Guys! Where are you?!" he cried out.
Suddenly, everything grew dark. Fog filled the empty void.
"Mom! Dad! Guys! Where are you?!" he called again... then came a response.
"Raia... come here..."
The voice was faint and seductive. Purple smoke gathered, and a huge butterfly appeared in the sky, it was purple, with shades of blue and black. But it wasn't a butterfly. It was a woman---with butterfly wings.
Her body was alluring, her skin glowing. She wore a form-fitting purple dress.
"Raia... come here... I have a surprise for you..." she whispered.
Raia, entranced, stepped closer.
When he was a few meters away, another figure stood beside her... a person in a purple suit.
"Raia... look closely..." she said and she suddenly kissed the person beside her, dragging her tongue over their face.
"Delicious!" she moaned, laughing madly.
Raia's eyes widened. He felt fury boil in his chest.
He didn't know why, but he 'hated' what he was seeing.
In a blur, he dashed forward---and decapitated her in one swift motion.
The woman's body vanished into smoke… revealing another body.
Blood pooled on the ground.
Raia's heart stopped.
He turned the body and screamed.
"Lavender!"
Raia shot awake, drenched in sweat. He looked at his Wristband.
4:45 AM.
Still shaken, he wiped his face and tried to forget the nightmare. He prayed silently for his friends. Especially for Lavender.
Then... he felt a presence near the window. He looked but saw nothing.
'It's just the dream messing with me...' he thought.
As he closed the window, the sky began to brighten.
"Sunrise... sunrise... That's it! Twilight!"
An idea struck. He washed his face and headed to the rooftop.
From the top, he saw the mountains and the enormous walls of True Haven's Base, towering walls he hadn't noticed before. It reminded him of an anime.
The sky brightened from red and orange pushing back the indigo. The air was crisp, and birds chirped in the trees.
Raia sat in lotus position and meditated.
"Not as bright as day, yet not as dark as night..."
He chanted the mantra. Suddenly, the sky above and the energy within him began to match.
Like Twilight…
He closed his eyes. Inside his body, energies shifted and then stopped--- forming a twilight of colors.
Then came the surge.
Memories, emotions, joy, sorrow, all flooded his mind. His heart clenched.
It was too much.
He broke the chant, gasping. The energies scattered again, it's no longer harmful, but chaotic.
'This... this is why I must master the meditation first...' Raia thought.
Then, a voice rang from the base.
"The Cafeteria is now open!"
Raia looked at his Wristband.
"It's 7 AM?! How is that possible?!"