Chapter 12: Nito — Lord of the Sun
In the stone training ground, where the floor had been worn smooth by countless awakened footsteps, John stood silently, his eyes fixed on Sean sitting not far away.
The air was unusually still… as if the place itself was holding its breath, waiting.
At the front stood Instructor Nito.
Back straight.
Presence steady.
Voice calm—but sharp like a blade.
"Now… I will teach you how to ascend to the second layer of the Awakened stage."
He paused.
"Don't worry. This breakthrough is the easiest of all. Every one of you here can achieve it."
All eyes locked onto him.
"I want all of you… to close your eyes."
They obeyed.
Sean among them.
The world vanished.
"Now… focus on your heartbeat."
Nito's voice became deeper… closer.
"With every beat… inhale. And with each breath… absorb energy from your surroundings."
"Think of nothing… except one thing."
A pause.
"Breakthrough."
Inside Sean's mind—
Thump… thump… thump…
His heartbeat echoed clearly, steady like a war drum.
With every pulse, something unseen seeped into his chest.
At first faint…
Then growing stronger.
I will break through now.
Not spoken.
But willed.
Then—
Something changed.
A barrier… cracked.
Through the eyes of his soul, Sean saw white particles of energy dancing around him… swirling… entering his body smoothly.
A faint glow flickered in his eyes.
At that moment—
Nito opened his eyes and smiled slightly.
"Congratulations… you have all succeeded."
"Officially… you are now Awakened."
Sean slowly opened his eyes.
His breathing deeper.
His body lighter.
As if something inside him had truly awakened.
John noticed immediately.
Not just physical…
Something deeper.
Nito continued:
"This is not the end… but the beginning."
"You are now all at Awakened — Second Layer."
He stepped forward.
"The first breakthrough is the easiest. But to continue climbing…"
"You must temper your bodies, learn techniques… and endure constant internal change."
He raised a finger:
"When your Path deems you ready… it will open the next layer. And the next… until the tenth."
Silence.
"And there…"
His voice slowed.
"You must create your own technique."
"One that cannot be copied… nor inherited."
A faint weight entered his tone:
"And then… your Path will inspire you with a ritual."
"A unique one."
"The key to reaching the Walker stage."
He looked at each of them.
"Class dismissed."
He turned slightly.
"Tomorrow, you will choose your weapons… and receive three free combat arts."
Then—
"Remember…"
"The strongest techniques are not those you learn…"
"…but those you create."
Sean's Room
In his small dorm room, Sean sat on the edge of a wooden bed.
His whip lay beside him.
His weapon.
A black whip—flexible, precise… dependent on control, timing, deception.
On the table—
Three combat art tablets.
All evasive.
Movement. Retreat. Trickery.
No direct confrontation.
Yet—
No sense of victory.
He lowered his head.
"…What am I doing here?"
His fingers tightened.
"I'm… a castrated man."
His breathing faltered.
"When I look at women… I feel pain."
"Not desire… a reminder."
A hollow laugh escaped him.
"…Pathetic."
Silence.
"…Should I kill myself?"
Not hysteria.
Calm.
Dangerous calm.
Knock… knock.
He froze.
"Who…?"
A familiar voice:
"It's me."
"…Instructor Nito?"
The door opened.
Nito entered calmly.
Looked around.
The whip.
The tablets.
Sean.
No pity.
No shock.
"How are you, Sean?"
"…As you see."
Nito sat.
"I saw your choices."
"A whip… and evasive arts."
He looked directly at him.
"Smart."
Pause.
"But not the choice of someone seeking power."
"…The choice of someone trying to survive."
Sean bit his lip.
"Survive from what? Myself?"
"Perhaps."
Then—
"Let me tell you something no one told you."
"What was taken from you… does not define your value."
"The Path does not see you like humans do."
He raised a finger.
"It sees your will."
Then:
"The real question is not… are you a man?"
"But… can you keep walking… even broken?"
Nito's Truth
Sean looked at him differently now.
Not as a teacher.
But as something older.
"...You're like me."
Nito didn't smile.
"Because of my appearance… Path Masters desired me."
"They castrated me."
"They broke me."
"They left me alive… thinking I was finished."
Silence.
"But I wasn't ordinary."
"I knew what I wanted."
"When I awakened… I walked one path."
"Revenge."
"When I became a Walker… I found them."
"I tortured them."
"I did to them worse than they did to me."
"I wiped out their families."
"Destroyed their bloodlines."
"Turned their daughters into slaves."
"Blinded their descendants."
Silence suffocated the room.
"…Did my anger fade?"
"No."
"Did revenge restore what I lost?"
"…No."
Then—
"I found an Understanding Stone."
"And learned…"
"At Transcendent… the body regenerates."
"Everything returns."
He clenched his fist.
"So I climbed."
"I betrayed. I endured. I humiliated… and was humiliated."
"But I didn't give up."
Then—
"My anger faded."
"My desire… disappeared."
"When I reached Adept… the pain vanished."
A faint terrifying smile:
"I understood."
"Power… is everything for someone like me."
"Not dignity."
"Not humiliation."
His voice deepened:
"I wanted something else."
"…Authority."
"I wanted to be king."
"Not of people."
"Not of Path Masters."
"But in history."
"My goal does not justify my means…"
"My means justify my goal."
"I will become the best… until I fall."
He placed a hand on his chest.
"I still have hope."
Then—
"Don't give up, Sean."
"I was like you."
"I will guide you."
"But walk yourself."
"Never give up."
"All pain fades… if your ambition is large enough."
Then—
"Choose a great ambition."
"As vast as mountains."
Something moved inside Sean.
For the first time—
Something… alive.
John, watching silently—
Understood.
Understood Nito.
Understood greatness.
One Month Later
Sean stood in the training hall.
Thin body.
Eyes alive.
Whip ready.
Before him—
Nito.
"Begin."
The whip lashed—
"Stop."
"Your stance is wrong."
Again.
"Relax your wrist."
Again.
"Better."
Hours passed.
Correction after correction.
No mercy.
No praise.
Only precision.
At the end—
"You've reached Awakened — Fifth Layer."
Pause.
"This speed… surpasses geniuses."
"Even faster than me at your age."
"…But."
"A fatal flaw."
"Your Path."
"Weak offense. Weak defense."
"Because it's unknown."
"No records."
"Undefined."
He turned.
"Compensate."
"Master all weapons."
Then—
"In eleven months… the tournament."
"…will decide if I truly acknowledge you."
He left.
John watched.
Sean… is a true genius.
I needed nine months… he did it in one.
Then remembered:
Nito trains him not out of kindness…
But because his Sun Path requires him to be a "sun" to someone.
And he chose Sean.
Outside the Understanding Stone
Reality.
The sky was gray.
Below—
Ruins.
Istanbul.
A dead city.
Collapsed towers.
Twisted life.
Wind howled like a dying thing.
A man walked forward.
Barathium Ront.
White hair.
Black eyes.
Seventy years old.
A leader carved by war.
"This… was Istanbul."
"…Now ruins."
Behind him—
Ten Walkers.
Mission:
Kill a rogue Walker—
"Dark Pigeon."
He stopped.
The air trembled.
Then—
They appeared.
A swarm.
Black-winged.
Countless.
His eyes widened.
"…Impossible."
"This wasn't supposed to be difficult."
He clenched his fist.
"One pigeon… Walker level."
He looked up—
"…This is not one."
"Prepare!"
Everyone felt it.
This wasn't normal.
The swarm moved as one.
Like a single mind.
Like the city itself had awakened.
Barathium stood at the front.
And for the first time in decades—
A thought surfaced:
This mission… was underestimated.
And the darkness…
Had begun to move.