Chapter 13 - CHAPTER 13:CAN YUTO STAND THAT HEAT

The wind howled against the cliffs like a wounded beast as Yuto stood there, staring up at the massive rock before him. It towered over his slight frame like an unmovable god of stone — scarred, ancient, and so wide it could have been mistaken for the trunk of a giant tree. Moss draped down its sides, whispering stories of those who came before and failed.Beside him, Yuki's voice cut through the roar of wind like a blade. "Push the rock," she said simply, her silver hair fluttering behind her, her amber eyes sharp as sunlight on metal.Yuto blinked, confused. "Push… this? It's enormous! No one could move this.""That's exactly the point." Yuki crossed her arms, her tone calm yet heavy with silent challenge. "If you want to awaken your true fire — your sun within — you must move it. Not in an hour. Not in a day. You'll move it when your will burns brighter than flame."Yuto looked between her and the monolith again. His heart thumped in his chest like drums before battle. He pressed his palms to the rock's cold surface and pushed. His muscles screamed instantly. The stone didn't budge even an inch. Sweat rolled down his back, his breath quickened, his teeth clenched until his jaw ached, but the rock stayed still.He fell to his knees, gasping for air. He wanted to scream, but his throat was dry.Yuki's voice remained neutral. "Again."He obeyed. Again, and again, and again — through sunrise and through the bleeding sunset — until his hands bled raw. Not a single inch.Days turned to weeks. The forest surrounding the training grounds changed colors, but the rock remained still. Yuto's arms grew thicker, his breath steadier, but his spirit wavered. Night after night, he woke under the same sky, haunted by the same dream — his village burning, his parents screaming, the symbol of the blazing sun flashing bright before fading into darkness.Each time he awoke, the fire inside him flickered in guilt.He remembered his mother's hands — her gentle touch against his cheek, her warmth far greater than any flame he could ever control. "Yuto," she used to say, "the sun always rises again. Even if it dies."That phrase followed him every dawn as he stood before the unmoving stone, fists trembling, tears mixing with dirt.Two months passed. One gray morning, as frost clung to the earth, something deep inside him stirred. He felt it — that pulse behind his eyes, the long‑dormant blaze that once made him feared. His vision shimmered gold and red: the ancient spark returning. Yuto's Fire Eyes had awakened again.Yuki sensed it immediately. "Now, Yuto… again."He exhaled sharply and pressed his palms into the stone. This time, heat radiated through him, veins glowing faintly like lines of magma. He shouted, the sound tearing through the cold air. Every fiber of his being strained — bones creaked, muscles quivered, and his heart pounded like thunder in a cage. Then, with a deep rumble, the rock shifted — not much, just enough to leave a small crevice of dust beneath it. Barely an inch, but real.Even Yuki blinked in disbelief. "No one's ever moved that stone."Yuto collapsed to his knees, chest heaving, the fire in his eyes dimming but alive. He smiled faintly through exhaustion. For the first time, progress.From that day forward, he trained harder than ever. Every hour was war. He punched, pushed, and lifted. He carried logs across rivers, ran through jungles until his legs buckled, and fought simulations against shadows conjured by Yuki's flame illusions.Winter came. Snow fell in soft white veils across the stone field, yet Yuto's will burned hotter with each failure. Then, after five relentless months, under a crimson sunset, he set his feet firm and gave his greatest roar. The ground shook as he moved the colossal rock once again — twenty inches this time.He fell face‑first into the dirt, gasping, seeing darkness spin at the edges of his mind."Yuto!" Yuki shouted, rushing to him. She splashed cold water across his face. When his eyes opened, the sky above looked like burning fire.From the tree line, Yuzi emerged, clapping slowly. His black cloak fluttered in the wind, his half‑smile sharp. "Well done," said the dark‑haired mentor. "It seems the flame in you truly belongs to the sun."Yuto tried to sit up, but his limbs were jelly. "I… still can't control it fully…""That's why the next stage begins." Yuzi lifted him. "Come. We go to the Devil Hunter Shelter."The shelter was hidden in the spine of the volcanic mountains — a fortress of molten stone. Inside, Yuto underwent the Sun Power Temperature Test. Dozens of glass tubes filled with fiery liquid surrounded him as Yuzi measured the heat radiating from Yuto's core.Yuto clenched his teeth as his body temperature soared, sweat vaporizing on his skin. "Eighty… a hundred… one‑fifty," Yuzi muttered, adjusting valves. "Good. You've survived what only the fireborn can."But that wasn't the true trial.After the test, they guided Yuto to an ancient temple beyond the valley. It was said to house the essence of the sun itself. The air shimmered; stones pulsed with energy like a living heart.When Yuto stepped inside, agony bloomed. His blood felt like molten iron. His clothes caught fire instantly. Gasping, he fell outside the entrance, smoke rising from his skin.Yuki looked down at him, expression grave. "You will not conquer fire by avoiding it," she said. "Go again. And when the flames reach your soul, don't flinch.""I can't even breathe in there," he coughed."Then learn to breathe fire," Yuzi said, arms folded.Days passed. He tried stepping into the temple each dawn. The first time, he lasted five minutes before collapsing. The second, ten. The third, he blacked out mid‑step. Yet he returned every sunrise — bandaged, burned, but determined.Then one evening, he sat before the temple's edge, spirit cracked. That's when Yoko appeared — the monk who had once trained both Yuki and Yuzi. His charred robes smelled faintly of smoke, eyes glowing gold with spiral pupils."Child," Yoko began softly, sitting beside him, "you fight fire as an enemy. But it is not the flame that destroys you — it is your defiance. Let it move through you. Become its rhythm, not its victim.""How… do I awaken my Fire Eyes completely?" Yuto asked quietly."You must go beyond eyes." Yoko placed a wrinkled hand over his heart. "Your flame must burn from within this. Only then will the world see your true sun."The next morning, Yuki gathered all disciples around the temple's inner flame pit. Yoko's deep voice carried across the courtyard. "Body still. Mind empty. Let the heat strip weakness. You are not flesh. You are fire."Yuto joined them. The flames licked inches from his skin, then over it — and something inside broke free. His memory flooded with images: his father's training, his mother's voice, her words like a gentle command — Even the sun must burn to shine.Hours turned to days. He learned to sit in fire without flinching. The pain dulled — replaced by focus. After a week, he could meditate surrounded by flame. His heartbeat synced with its rhythm.It was time.He entered the temple again. The flames peeled at him, but his body did not burn. His skin glowed faint crimson, his veins gold. He sat in the temple's core, where the heat reached nearly 250 degrees.Outside, Yuki and Yuzi shielded their eyes from the glow pouring out.Inside, Yuto's breathing slowed. When he opened his eyes again, they radiated golden fire: the legendary Sun Eyes. The temple shook as though acknowledging his rebirth."Now you understand," Yoko's voice whispered in his mind. "To withstand the sun, you must become it."Tears fell — not in pain, but release. Every scream, every trial now made sense. This was not strength — it was transformation. The fire coiled into a luminous halo around him. The stone beneath his feet melted into magma, yet he stood calm. He had passed the flame's judgment.He meditated within that inferno for a full day. Villagers miles away saw light flood the sky — what they called "the sunrise that never set."When he stepped out, Yuki was there, eyes full of pride. Yuzi bowed deeply. Yoko nodded solemnly."Stage two completed," Yuki said. "You are no longer a boy chasing power. You've become the flame itself."Yuto's Sun Eyes gleamed softly. "I'm ready," he whispered. "For the next stage."But the final trial was different.The Solar Convergence — The New TrainingYuki explained: "You've mastered heat and endurance. Now you must master the pulse — the rhythm between life and the sun. The Solar Convergence aligns the body's heartbeat with the star's rotation. Fail, and your flame will devour your soul."This training took place on Mount Kaien — where sunlight never fully reached and shadow always fought dawn. Yuto, Yuki, and Yuzi climbed the spiral cliffs under constant storm. There, Yoko drew a symbol on the stone — half sun, half eclipse.He explained, "Fire without balance becomes destruction. The Solar Convergence drains both sun and shadow from within you. Survive it, and your flame will breathe with the world."On the first day, Yuto's task was Sun Breathing Synchrony. He had to match his heartbeats to the rising and setting of the day. At sunrise, Yuki placed a golden pendulum over his chest; each time it swung, he inhaled heat, each return — exhaled light. For hours he failed, each breath too shallow or fast. His vision blurred, his pulse erratic.By the fifth day, as sweat poured down in rivers, he finally matched it. His blood moved with sun‑light rhythm, each exhale shimmering faint orange.The second part was Shadow Containment. Yuzi, using dark flame techniques, conjured phantoms born from Yuto's old fears — the screams of his lost village, the faces of those he failed to protect. To pass, Yuto couldn't fight them. He had to stand still as the illusions clawed and burned him. To resist fighting back required greater will than battle itself.After twelve hours, he collapsed, trembling — but alive. The phantoms melted into embers. "Good," Yuzi said quietly. "Your heart didn't waver."Then came the final phase — Solar Fusion. Yuto was sealed inside a crystal chamber carved directly from the volcano's heart. Streams of raw sunlight entered through narrow channels, merging with the mountain's heat. Within the chamber, energy twisted violently — cold and heat colliding.For seven days, Yuto endured without food or rest. He learned to center his Sun Eyes in perfect calm, guiding torrents of fire through nerve and soul alike. His veins turned gold. His breath no longer produced air — only hissed radiant steam.On the seventh dawn, explosions cracked through the mountain. Yuto's body released a surge of solar force that split the clouds above. The molten streams around the valley rose into the air like reversed waterfalls.When the light faded, he stepped forward — no longer human, not quite god. His aura pulsed like an eclipse. Yuki bowed. "Solar Convergence complete," she whispered, voice thick with awe.Yuto looked down at his hands; they shimmered with living flame that curved into rings — each representing a stage of mastery. "I feel it," he said softly. "The sun doesn't burn me anymore. It breathes with me."Yoko, standing behind them, smiled faintly. "Then you have learned the truth: the sun is not power. It is purpose."That night, as the moon rose over the volcanic peaks, Yuto gazed at the horizon. A faint vibration shuddered through the ground — the first hint of the shadows gathering beyond the northern range. Dark energy rippled through the stars, staining constellations black.He knew it before anyone spoke — his true battle had only just begun. He clenched his fists as the wind howled through the cliffs, and the burning symbol of the sun reflected in his golden eyes."The darkness rises," Yuto murmured. "So will I."And far beyond, across the endless skies, something ancient stirred — an echo of the fallen sun, waiting to challenge his rebirth. The dawn of the next war would carry his flame into legend.