The sky was pale gray that morning — neither hopeful nor grim, just quietly watching.
Om Sai stood with his arms crossed, back turned to Arin, as if simply waiting for the world to catch up with his mood.
"Alright, brat," he called lazily. "Since you didn't explode yesterday, congratulations — you're now officially alive enough to learn control."
Arin stood a few paces behind him, still adjusting to the strange silence in his chest after the sealing. Perin rested around his neck like a tiny fur scarf.
Om Sai cracked his neck, then pointed at the ground beside him.
"Step here."
Arin did.
"Now," Om Sai said casually, "show me Echoform… just a flicker. Nothing stupid."
Arin nodded. He focused — pulling gently at that spiritual thread he had felt during battle. The cosmic pressure remained caged under the seal, unmoving. Astra stirred faintly — warm, familiar. Then his Echoform — the true part of him — shimmered softly around his body like a thin layer of translucent light.
It didn't rage. It didn't crave destruction. It breathed with him.
Om Sai watched closely.
"…Good," he murmured. "We'll call this Stage Zero: Calm Echo."
Arin raised an eyebrow. "Stage Zero?"
"Yeah," Om Sai shrugged. "You don't get Stage One until you stop accidentally trying to obliterate everything while blinking."
Arin sighed. Perin nodded like it agreed with Om Sai.
"Next," Om Sai continued, "focus on your breathing. Echoform responds to life energy — the rhythm of your pulse, breath, emotional state. If your emotions spike too fast, it goes feral. You must remain in control whether you're calm… or drowning in rage."
Arin swallowed, remembering the thrill of the last battle. The sound of cracking bone. The insane joy.
He didn't answer.
Om Sai crouched slightly. "Now. Try this: maintain Calm Echo and simply walk forward. No bursts of power. No ego. Just exist."
Arin did.
It wasn't easy.
Every step, his Echoform threatened to spike — like it wanted to flare into battle-mode. But he kept breathing. Kept steady.
Om Sai smirked.
"Good. You're like a feral wolf trying to pretend to be a house pet. Keep pretending harder."
Arin glared. "That's… supposed to be encouraging?"
"Yes," Om Sai said seriously. "Because a wolf pretending to be a wolf burns out. But a wolf pretending to be a man… learns to choose when to show its fangs."
Arin paused.
That… made sense.
He lowered his Echoform slowly.
Perin gave an approving chirp.
At the edge of the training field… Shivani stood watching silently, arms folded.
Her expression was unreadable — relief and caution warred in her eyes.
Miran, standing beside her, whispered: "He… feels calmer than before."
Shivani said nothing.
But when Arin met her gaze briefly — she didn't look away.
Maybe… she was starting to trust him again.
Maybe.
Training shifted.
Om Sai stood in front of Arin again, this time holding a dull training blade.
"Astra training now," he said simply.
Arin tightened his grip. "I already know Astra comes from trauma—"
Om Sai cut him off with a flick of the wrist. "Knowing isn't mastering. Anyone can bleed. Only a warrior controls how deep."
The words sank heavy.
"Your Astra flared only during high distress," Om Sai continued. "That's natural — but dangerous. If your trauma controls your power, your enemies control your trauma."
He lifted the training blade toward Arin's chest.
"Astra users must shape their pain — not be shaped by it."
Arin stood silent, the seal on his cosmic energy still cold against his core.
"Now," Om Sai said. "Show me Astra — without losing your calm."
Arin closed his eyes and breathed.
He tried to remember without falling apart.
He remembered: — The first sterile room. — Subject 9 dying before him. — Lang's voice calling him a clone. — The open cage. — Shivani almost crushed. — The blood smiling with him.
The edge of fear pushed upward.
A faint shadow shimmered around him.
The ground cracked — just slightly.
Astra.
Controlled.
It flickered, heavy yet steady.
Om Sai nodded.
"…Better."
But then he added coldly:
"Now hold it. While I break your rhythm."
Before Arin could react — Om Sai appeared behind him and struck him with the flat of the blade across the ribs.
Pain shot through him.
Astra spiked.
Echoform twitched.
The cosmic seal beneath it rumbled like something caged… angry.
But Arin grit his teeth — and forced Astra back into a steady flow.
I control it. I am not losing it again.
Another strike.
Another flare.
Another push back down.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Until his breathing grew labored, sweat poured down his face, and his grip trembled.
But his eyes were steady.
Astra… did not explode.
Echoform… stayed dormant.
The cosmic seal… remained still.
Om Sai lowered the blade.
"…Good."
Arin collapsed to one knee, panting, clutching his chest.
Om Sai crouched down slightly, voice low.
"From now on, remember this: Pain is not your enemy. Panic is. If you panic, everything inside you — Astra, Echoform, cosmic whatever — will merge and detonate. You'll lose everything, including yourself."
Arin nodded, exhausted, but more grounded.
Perin hopped onto his shoulder and nuzzled him comfortingly.
Unexpectedly… he didn't feel alone.
📍Elsewhere – Observation Room In a small elevated chamber overlooking the field, Commander Aisha stood behind the glass, arms crossed.
A subordinate spoke quietly: "Commander… is this safe? He's still unstable."
Aisha watched Arin push himself back to his feet.
"Strength is forged fastest when near the edge of collapse," she said. "But…"
She narrowed her eyes at Om Sai below.
"…only if the one guiding him knows exactly how close that edge is."
sBack at the field… Shivani approached from the distance, boots crunching on gravel.
Training paused.
"You done breaking him?" she asked Om Sai, voice cool.
"Not yet," Om Sai grinned. "This is just morning warm-up."
Arin groaned softly.
Shivani eyed him—bandaged, tired, but standing—and her expression shifted. Something like… cautious respect.
Then she said, without looking him in the eye:
"You're doing better than before."
And walked off.
Arin blinked, stunned.
Perin nodded, as if agreeing she had just complimented him in her own angry-cat way.
Om Sai stretched. "Break time's over. Lunch. Then more dying— I mean, training."
After lunch, the sky dimmed with faint evening clouds. Training resumed—more silent, more dangerous.
Om Sai stood opposite Arin, arms folded.
"This session," he said casually, "is about synchronization."
Arin wiped sweat from his forehead. "Synchronization of what?"
"Astra… and Echoform."
The words hit him like ice.
He hesitated. "That's risky."
"That's training," Om Sai replied with a grin. "You won't fully awaken Echoform. Just graze it. Use Astra as the anchor. If you lose control…" He pointed at the seal on Arin's chest. "…your cosmic monster wakes up and eats your soul. Don't lose control."
Arin swallowed. "…Encouraging."
Om Sai cracked his neck. "Relax. Worst case, I punch you unconscious."
"Comforting," Arin muttered.
They sat down cross-legged on the training ground.
"Step one," Om Sai instructed, "ignite Astra."
Arin breathed deep. Shadows pulsed faintly around him.
"Step two—touch your Echoform. Lightly."
Perin watched nervously from a branch.
Arin inhaled slower… deeper… trying to feel the soft light that once wrapped him gently.
A faint breeze stirred.
A whisper of luminous aura shimmered around his body.
Astra (pain).
Echoform (serenity).
They clashed.
Arin's chest tightened.
Memories of cages.
Memories of warmth from nature.
They overlapped. Conflict.
He gritted his teeth.
"Do not let Astra devour Echoform," Om Sai warned. "Let them exist—but not merge."
Arin felt something pulling at both powers. A balance had to be found—not through force, but awareness.
Pain exists.
But so does peace.
Slowly… both energies hovered faintly, not fighting.
Then…
Silence.
His breathing steadied.
His aura flickered in two colors—dark Astra shadow and soft Echoform light—co-existing.
Om Sai raised an eyebrow.
"…Not bad. Considering you nearly became a mini disaster reactor last time."
Arin exhaled shakily. "That… felt different."
"It was," Om Sai said quietly. "If you master this state… you'll become something terrifying."
Perin jumped onto Arin's lap, relieved.
Footsteps approached.
Commander Aisha.
She held a sealed black folder.
Om Sai sighed. "Already? He just learned not to explode."
Aisha ignored him. She looked at Arin.
"Tomorrow," she said, "you will leave the facility."
Arin straightened. "A mission?"
"No," Aisha said coolly. "A trial."
She placed the folder in his hand.
"This isn't to prove your strength," she added. "We know you're strong."
Arin's brows furrowed. "Then what is it for?"
Her eyes sharpened.
"To see if you can control the monster inside you… before someone else tries to control it first." She left.
Om Sai watched her go, then looked at Arin.
"Get some rest," he said. "Tomorrow decides whether you walk forward… or get chained again." Arin stared at the folder in his hand. Something inside him trembled—not with fear.With anticipation.