[Two Months Earlier - From Epsilon's Perspective]
The first week was hell. Literally. The training that Null called "physical chess" was nothing but a painful series of defeats for me. Every day, every hour, muscles in my body I never knew existed ached, my mind felt helpless against Null's processing speed. Getting knocked down, getting up, and getting knocked down again... This had become my new routine.
But something was different. It was different from those beatings in my childhood. Because after each fall, even if there wasn't a hand Null extended, there was a determined voice saying "Get up. You shifted your center of gravity." This wasn't cruelty, it was training. This wasn't humiliation, it was faith in my potential. And most importantly, this time I wasn't alone.
When the second month began, hell started giving way to a strange harmony. I was no longer afraid of connecting to Null's mind. Instead of drowning in that ocean of data, I was learning to swim with the waves. Her logic was drawing a riverbed for my chaotic Edgium flow.
"Dance," she had said in the middle of a training session. "Don't fight. Your body knows the next move, your mind just needs to allow it."
That day something clicked into place. I no longer saw a kick she threw at me as just a threat. Its speed, angle, impact point... I was reading all of it from her mind. But this time, instead of just staying on defense, my body reacted instinctively. Gathering energy beneath my foot, I slid slightly to the side, and as her leg passed by me, in that split-second gap I turned and swung my elbow toward her shoulder.
My elbow stopped one millimeter from touching her shoulder.
Null remained motionless for a moment. Then she stepped back. In her red eyes was something I'd never seen before: Admiration.
"Analysis and instinct," she said, her voice softer than usual. "The fusion of you and me. This... is efficient."
From that day on, our training turned into a dance. Her flawless technique and my unpredictable Edgium flow merged, creating a brand new style that belonged to both of us. I was no longer getting beaten. I was learning. I was growing stronger.
The banter between us also became part of this dance. One evening, collapsed after an exhausting training session, I whined, "You have no restraint at all, my life." Before, this would have resulted in a punch to my shoulder. But this time she just looked at me, raising one eyebrow.
"If I had restraint," she said in a sarcastic tone. "You couldn't really learn anything, could you... my life?"
The last word came out of her mouth so naturally yet so pointed that I didn't know what to say for a moment. Then I burst into laughter. Tears were streaming from my eyes from exhaustion and happiness. Null's tsundere shell wasn't cracking, it was actually becoming more complex and entertaining.
Every moment we spent together, I was learning new things about her. One day when we went to the shelter to read the new section in the book, as I was trying to understand a complex cosmological theory in the text, she started explaining, "Think of it this way." While explaining, she had made that movement again. Her head tilted slightly to the side, focused as if breaking down even the most complex concept into its simplest parts. That familiar ache settled in my heart. Delta. This was Delta's movement. I was certain now that this wasn't a coincidence. But I couldn't make sense of it. These small, familiar echoes appeared in Null's most logical moments, turning her into an even greater mystery for me.
By the end of the second month, I was no longer afraid of fighting. On the contrary, I liked feeling this new power. But Null had noticed something I hadn't.
At the end of another training session, she saw me hesitate when I was in a position where I could easily overpower her. I had hesitated instead of delivering the finishing blow.
"Why did you stop?" she asked, stepping back.
"I don't know," I said honestly. "Just... for a moment..." I couldn't finish my sentence. At that moment, my father's face had appeared blurry in my mind. That moment when the strong one struck the weak one.
Null sat beside me. We watched the sea in silence for a while.
"You're physically ready, Epsilon," she finally said. "Your body knows what it needs to do. But your mind... your mind still hesitates like that small, cornered child. We need to end this war between your body and soul."
I looked at her tensely. "How?"
"To overcome your traumas," she said, her voice determined. "We need to confront you with them, even in a controlled way."