"Nice job, Araka. At this point, you've practically mastered the gear, even it's not a lightsaber."
Huashin's voice echoed from the testing field, filtered slightly through the barrier hum. I took off my goggles, steam fogging at the edges, and stepped back from the target wall. The beam had punched clean through the alloy without splintering the structure - controlled, contained, complete.
It felt… natural now, even without the lightsaber.
I wiped my hands on my training vest and glanced at the readout. Matake Resonance: Stable / Dual Phase Complete.
One year ago, I wouldn't have understood half of those terms - Matake, field distortion, shard - . Before that, I was just a high school girl who was good at running. Saving people? Maybe, but never about fighting off Matake sorcery through mind battles and lightsabers.
"Want to take a break, Araka-cha?" Huashin called out. She had that half-smile—the one she only wore when something genuinely surprised her. "We're good for today."
We arrived at the main dining room of the training complex of SAIR Central Division 2.
"It's still funny to me," she said, pulling her juice from the fridge, "how you're 17 and already drink coffee like a field technician in their thirties."
"I just… don't like things too sweet anymore," I replied, sitting down slowly.
In the distance, I could hear Instructor Anawa's machine doing scanning on shards, or the new trainee under the guidance of Haseku, the head of the combat and rescue branch.
Then she spoke.
"You know, Araka-cha… I still can't believe it. Just two year sago, while during the entrance exam, you didn't even notice you have Matake. Now you're stabilizing fields, syncing gear, surviving shadow resonance storms, and fighting of shard possessed entities. You've changed more than anyone I've ever trained."
I looked down at the table, tracing the edge of the condensation ring left by my glass.
"I feel different too," I said. "But not just from training."
My eyes drifted to the coaster under my drink. It was a silly one. A printed image of Ms. Possible - the long running cartoon on the OBN channel, known for her bright smile and endless optimism, but more importantly for her heroism and unrealistic superpower - especially the "purification beam". It was a light beam that was meant to clear every single sign of evil.
Huashin noticed me staring: "She's still your favorite?"
I nodded.
But in my head, a thought echoed quietly:
I'm getting closer now… to becoming someone like her. Not because I smile all the time. But because now, I carry something that matters. The ancient power of Matake. And deeper still… the strength of Hekon, the matriarch of all Matake users.
I don't know what that will cost me yet. But I know who I want to be.
Even if my home country - the Great Chin, and even our planet, Esteria, turned upside down and bust into flame, I know - I'm one of those who can flip everything around, who can restore the brightness even within the encroaching darkness.