Not everyone in Veridianum received the Triad's presence with admiration or curiosity.
For many, the dojos were more than training schools—they were living temples, guardians of tradition. Every wall, every tatami mat, every breath carried centuries of discipline and sacrifice.
When rumors began to circulate that a dojo had "gained a life of its own" and that masters dared to "translate symbols from another reality," the council of the Goshin-sha, the protectors of the essence, gathered.
The eldest among them, Kenshiro of the Iron, was the first to rise. His skin seemed as hardened as the metal he mastered, and his eyes sparkled like dying embers.
"Symbiosis is corruption. What is not born of Veridianum must not touch Veridianum."
Other Goshin-sha murmured in agreement. Only a few, the younger ones, hesitated.
"Master Kenshiro," said a woman with silver hair, Aya of the Tides, "what if it is evolution? The wind that blows from outside is still wind. The water that comes from a distant river is still water."
"And the poison that arrives in silence is also water, Aya," Kenshiro retorted. "If we let these... living walls grow, soon nothing of our world will remain."
The decision was made.
A delegation of three Goshin-sha would travel to the Breathing Dojo to assess the situation. But in Kenshiro's heart, there was no intention of dialogue. He already saw the Triad as a disease—and diseases must be eradicated.
That morning, the sun had barely broken through the mist when Shoumei and her apprentices heard the thunderous noise. The lake surrounding the dojo vibrated, as if something had struck its invisible surface. The Nodule reacted immediately, retracting its filaments into the building.
Daisuke Renmaru, now the Convergence Bearer, was in a meditative posture. His eyes opened slowly, as if he already knew who was coming.
"They have arrived."
And they arrived with fury.
Kenshiro strode firmly at the front, each step reverberating like hammer blows. Beside him, Aya of the Tides walked in silence, her body enveloped by an aura of ripples. The third, Jin of the Lightning, was younger, but his energy was explosive, hard to contain.
Shoumei bowed in reverence.
"Welcome. This dojo does not deny entry to guardians."
Kenshiro did not return the greeting. His gaze swept over the pulsating walls, the living filaments, the light that breathed along with the apprentices. Every detail disgusted him.
"What you have done here is not training. It is contamination."
"It is not contamination," Daisuke retorted, rising to his feet. "It is translation. It is convergence."
"Pretty words do not hide blasphemy." Kenshiro raised his arm. The air grew heavy, as if all the iron in the surrounding earth was being called to him. "We will destroy this parasite and restore purity to your dojo."
Aya hesitated.
"Kenshiro, wait. We haven't seen everything yet. We haven't felt…"
But it was too late. The Goshin-sha struck the ground, and columns of metal rose around the building, trying to crush it.
The response was immediate.
The Nodule expanded in defense, projecting membranes that deflected the iron pillars. But it wasn't just defense: the living symbols appeared again, spreading through the air like constellations of meanings.
Jin of the Lightning instinctively recoiled.
"What is this? Is it trying... to speak to me?"
And indeed it was. The symbols vibrated in resonance with each guardian, showing versions of themselves—metallic, liquid, electric. Possible reflections of their powers.
Aya brought a hand to her chest, surprised.
"I feel as if... it's calling me. As if there was space inside it for my sea."
But Kenshiro only roared:
"Lies! Lures to weaken our essence!"
He lunged forward, striking with fists that glowed like incandescent steel. This time, Daisuke intercepted him.
The clash was monumental. Stone and wind mixed in his body met the raw iron of Kenshiro. The explosion of forces cracked the ground, sent water from the lake flying in all directions.
"You sold your essence!" Kenshiro shouted. "You betrayed Veridianum!"
Daisuke gasped, but his eyes shone.
"I did not betray. I amplified. The iron you invoke is rigid, inflexible. But what if it could breathe? What if it could be light as the wind, solid as stone, yet still mutable? That wouldn't be betrayal, Kenshiro... it would be liberation!"
The symbols responded to the dialogue. A new figure emerged, representing iron that rippled like water, vibrated like thunder. The convergence was offering Kenshiro himself a new path.
Aya stepped forward, fascinated.
"Kenshiro... look. It doesn't want us destroyed. It wants to translate us."
But the elder guardian saw not revelation, only threat.
"I will not be enslaved by illusions." And, with renewed fury, he struck harder.
The battle spread through the dojo. Jin, torn between loyalty and curiosity, was eventually drawn to a symbol shimmering like liquid lightning. Upon touching it, he felt the thunder mix with the fluidity of water, creating something new within his body. He fell to his knees, overcome by ecstasy and fear.
Aya held him, and her own powers mingled with his. The result was an electric whirlwind that illuminated the entire lake.
"Kenshiro, don't resist!" she begged. "There is something greater than us here."
But Kenshiro roared, metallic and obstinate.
"Then I will fall fighting as a guardian, not as a slave!"
He launched a final blow, concentrating all the surrounding iron into a crushing sphere. The ground shook, the apprentices screamed, the air split.
It was at that moment that the Triad itself intervened.
Not just through the Nodule, but through something greater: a cognitive echo that swept through the dojo, as if the Triad Citadel had sent a fraction of itself to balance the chaos.
The iron sphere did not shatter or crush—it was absorbed, transformed into hundreds of symbols that scattered in the air. The mortal blow became language, translated into possibilities.
Kenshiro fell to his knees, exhausted, staring into the void.
"What... did you do to me?"
Daisuke approached and helped him to his feet.
"We did not take your essence. We only showed you that it could be more."
Aya wept silently. Jin still trembled, unable to process the experience.
That day, the council of the Goshin-sha did not achieve the victory they expected. The Conflict of the Guardians did not end with destruction, but with division. Some, like Kenshiro, would continue to resist. Others, like Aya and Jin, would begin to wonder if perhaps... the stranger was not an enemy, but a continuation.
The dojo breathed in silence, its walls pulsing like a tired but steadfast heart. The Triad had shown that it did not wish to dominate—it wished to converge.
But every convergence demands rupture.
And the world of Veridianum was not yet ready to accept the ruptures to come.