(The Awakening)
Sami sat silently in the dim morning light, the heavy scent of scorched earth and lingering Phore energy surrounding her. Her exhaustion was profound, but her attention remained fixed on the sky, waiting for the first definitive rays of dawn.
It was then that Takashi slowly regained consciousness. His eyes fluttered open, disoriented, and landed on Sami.
"Huh? Where are the Soul Reapers?! And why am I lying here?" he rasped, his voice rough and thin.
He attempted to sit up, but a fresh wave of intense, agonizing pain—the toll of fighting five monsters and moving at near light-speed—wracked his entire body. He let out a suppressed gasp and collapsed back down, unable to endure the sudden, searing agony.
Sami's eyes instantly snapped from the sky to him. She immediately stood up, moving swiftly to his side. She gently grabbed his shoulder, her touch careful, and helped steady him as she carefully laid him back down onto the relatively soft earth.
"Don't worry," Sami murmured, her voice laced with exhaustion but firm. "We're out of danger now."
"Ugh…" Takashi tried to process the situation through the haze of pain. "Where were you two all this time? And where did those Soul Reapers go? Why is Nitsuki lying here unconscious?" He gestured weakly toward Nitsuki's still form.
"Calm down, calm down," Sami instructed softly, recognizing the panic bubbling beneath his questions. "I will explain everything."
At that moment, Kento, lying nearby, also groaned and began to stir.
"Ahhh… that was such a peaceful sleep," Kento mumbled, before his eyes flew open, the memory of the fight slamming into him. "Wait a minute—wasn't I in the middle of a fight?? Then what suddenly happened? Why am I lying here like this? And why are you two here as well? Get up, let's go to that stone!"
Sami met his renewed frantic energy with a calm smile. "Relax, relax. We are out of danger. And I also achieved Phore."
Takashi, despite his pain, managed to raise an eyebrow. "Huh! Really? So you two found it and successfully achieved Phore!"
Kento, instantly distracted from his pain, demanded, "So what kind of Phore did you get? And what about Nitsuki?"
Sami held up a hand. "Okay, okay. Give me a moment to explain everything."
(Flashback: The Quest for Phore)
The scene dissolved back to the chaotic moments after Nitsuki and Sami had escaped the pit, fleeing the first Soul Reaper, and started running in search of the meteorite stone.
"Stay with me," Nitsuki urged, his voice tight with concentration. "Don't get separated."
"I know," Sami replied, glancing nervously at the destroyed terrain. "But do you even know where that stone is?"
"I neither don't know," Nitsuki confessed.
While running, Sami turned her head back for a moment, an instinctive need to check on Takashi. But the smoke had already thickened, swallowing Takashi's position entirely. She couldn't see him anymore.
"No way,"Sami thought, a cold dread setting in."The Soul Reapers must have attacked Takashi... maybe that's what that explosion was."
"Don't look behind," Nitsuki said, his tone unusually firm. "Just focus on finding that stone. I believe in him. He will be okay. After all, he is that intelligent guy who can calculate any situation."
Sami sighed, reluctantly accepting the logic. "Yeah. You might be right."
At that moment, Nitsuki, scanning the surroundings with intense focus, noticed something unusual in the distance to the right—something glowing in strange shades of deep blue and swirling black. It was utterly alien and strange, completely out of place in the ruined jungle.
"Hey Sami. Look over there. There is something," Nitsuki said, pointing. "Let's go there and check it out."
Sami looked in that direction and noticed it, too. "Oh that blue and black type thing?"
"Yeah. Isn't it weird?" Nitsuki confirmed.
"Yeah. Maybe it is that stone," Sami realized, her heart lifting with a sliver of hope.
"Let's go there first."
They altered their course, running toward the glow. While moving, they noticed a massive tornado forming in the distance—the kinetic storm Takashi had created to dispatch the first Reaper.
"Woh! A tornado?" Sami gasped, momentarily awestruck by the destructive power.
"Takashi must be the one who did this," Nitsuki said, his voice tinged with grudging respect and fear. "Just stay alive, Takashi. We're coming—after achieving our Phore."
They finally reached the site. Before them stood the meteorite, massive and radiating an exotic, pulsing light.
"Wow… this stone is huge. And it's glowing in blue and black," Sami whispered.
"Yeah. It must be that stone," Nitsuki confirmed.
"Yeah. It is," Sami agreed.
They slowly moved around the stone, examining it from different angles.
"Takashi and Kento got their Phore after touching it," Nitsuki reasoned. "So maybe if we touch, we will also get Phore."
"I thought the same," Sami urged. "Why waste time? Just touch it. We ran out of time."
Without further hesitation, the two of them placed their hands on the stone together. But... nothing happened. The stone remained cold and neutral beneath their fingers.
"Are we doing something wrong?" Nitsuki asked, confusion replacing urgency.
"I don't know. Isn't this the way Takashi and Kento got their Phore?" Sami asked.
"Yeah but why w—" Before Nitsuki could finish speaking, a sudden, fierce electric shock slammed into him. He let out a short, sharp scream and collapsed unconscious, falling a short distance away.
"Nitsuki!!!!!!" Sami cried, rushing to his side. She grabbed him, panic beginning to set in as she realized his unresponsive state.
"Nitsuki… Nitsuki… wake up, wake up!" She started to cry, fear overwhelming her. "Nitsuki… what suddenly happened to you?! Wake up, Nitsuki!!"
At that moment, a thin crack appeared on the surface of the meteorite. From the crack, a brilliant, yellow-colored beam shot out, moving diagonally forward. It passed straight through the back of Sami's head, penetrating inward almost like a soul merging into its container.
Instantly, two transparent system cards appeared floating in front of her.
It read: "Congratulations! You have achieved a unique Phore — Psychokinesis (Telekinesis)."
Sami nearly collapsed onto Nitsuki, the overwhelming surge of raw power threatening to extinguish her consciousness. But she grit her teeth, resisting the immense internal force, somehow managing to stay conscious.
"Huh! What is happening to me? Why is my vision beginning to blur?"Sami desperately commanded herself."Sami… You can't be unconscious right now. Calm yourself, Sami."
Then, suddenly, everything stabilized. The internal turmoil ceased. Sami regained her composure, and a subtle, shimmering silver-colored aura began to emanate from her body.
"Huhh? What the hell just happened now?" she whispered, staring at the glow. "Now I am feeling so energetic all of sudden. What the hell is going on? Wait wait, I am releasing some silver color aura. Did I get Phore?"
Suddenly, everything around her—small stones, broken branches—began to levitate. The silver aura spread to the objects, lifting them into the air.
"All of these are floating,"she realized, her mind racing."Is this because of my Phore?"
Suddenly, Sami felt an immense, crippling pressure on her brain, the raw control proving too much. She placed her hands on her head, struggling to calm herself and regain control.
"Aughh.. I.. I can't take this. Nitsuki…. Aughhhhhhhh!!" she cried out.
Then, just as suddenly as it began, the pressure vanished. All the levitating objects dropped to the ground. Sami felt calm once more.
"Uff," she sighed, yawning in sudden, profound relief. "Sigh… what was that? I thought I was going to die. Nitsuki… you still didn't get up."
Sami was extremely worried, unsure of what to do next. But then, Nitsuki's body began to gently float up from her lap.
"Nitsuki is floating. Is this because of my Phore?"She tested the theory instantly.
Her gaze fell on a medium-sized broken stone nearby. Concentrating fiercely, she focused her will on controlling it. The stone began to glow with the same silver aura, lifting effortlessly off the ground.
"Wow. I can control things. So this is my Phore, 'Psychokinesis'," she confirmed, a powerful new confidence blooming within her.
Sami took a deep breath, steadied herself, and made a decision driven by necessity.
"Now, it's not time to panic. Right now, Takashi needs help. I have to go there to help him with my new Phore. I will take Nitsuki with me."
Sami used her power to lift herself into the air. Beside her, Nitsuki floated along, enveloped in the same protective silver field.
"Wow. That's amazing," she whispered, soaring higher. "I can fly like that. Let's go to Takashi."
Sami soared into the sky, floating upward, heading toward where she remembered the fighting had been fiercest.
"Wait… Takashi isn't here," she realized, noticing the distinct lack of recent devastation in the area. "Oh Takashi, where are you? I hope you're alive."
Then Sami glanced slightly to the side, lowering her gaze, and noticed that several Soul Reapers were gathered in one specific spot, suggesting a point of interest.
"There are a lot of Soul Reapers. I should go there. Maybe Takashi is there,"she reasoned.
As she moved closer, she saw the horrific sight: the Soul Reapers were holding Takashi and Kento, preparing to consume their souls.
"Hell nah!! I've to do something right now," she declared.
Sami hovered downward, carefully observing the massive, broken tree pieces scattered nearby—perfectly sized weapons. "There is some huge piece of tree. I got an idea. Let me control those piece of tree and throw them."
Without wasting a single second, Sami executed her plan. She rose higher into the air and telekinetically took control of all the large debris around her. She directed the objects straight toward the two Soul Reapers who were about to consume Takashi and Kento's souls.
"Nah, I'd not let you consume their soul," she stated, her voice echoing with the power of her new Phore.
(End Flashback)
The scene snapped back to the present. Sami continued speaking, recounting the final, destructive moments.
"Then I brought all of you to me, making you float. From below, I controlled countless objects at once and directed them toward the Soul Reapers, which ended up destroying them all. So yeah, that's how I obtained my power and saved you all. But I still can't figure out what happened to Nitsuki."
Kento stared at her in utter disbelief, his usual arrogant skepticism kicking in. "You!?? You defeated them alone?? Nahh, I don't believe it. A girl can never defeat them."
Sami met his disdain with a confident glare. "Yeah I can, you idiot."
"How dare you!?? You call me idiot?" Kento demanded, his face reddening.
Sami smirked. "So… what should I call an idiot like you? Of course… I'll call you an idiot."
"I'll kill you!!" Kento threatened, scrambling to get up.
Kento lunged, but Sami was faster. She casually used her Psychokinesis to press several medium-sized stones onto him. Kento was instantly pinned to the ground, unable to move.
Sami ignored him, turning back to Takashi. "Ignore him. So what should we do with Nitsuki? He is still unconscious."
"I actually don't know," Takashi admitted, his mind struggling to process the extreme pain and the new, shocking information. "Let me think first."
With a sudden burst of pure will, Kento released intense electric energy from his body, causing the stones pressing down on him to scatter and fly off.
"Ahhhhhhhh…!" Kento roared, freed.
"Calm down, Kento!" Takashi ordered, recognizing the rising tension.
But before their petty argument could escalate, Sami pointed sharply upwards.
"Hey guys… look up! How many Soul Reapers are there?!"
Countless regular-grade Soul Reapers were descending rapidly from the sky, filling the air above them.
Kento, his combat instinct immediately activated, cracked his neck. "Hahh!! Let's go guys. Kill all of them."