The training chamber was cold—far colder than Marcus expected for a government facility. Metal walls hummed with faint energy, and the floor beneath his boots was reinforced steel etched with mystical runes. Tyrese and Geoffrey stood at the edge, arms crossed, watching silently.
Marcus knelt in the center of the chamber, sweat rolling down his temple. The moment he closed his eyes, he felt it—the darkness inside.
Fear.
Anger.
The lingering pain of losing his parents.
All of it bubbled beneath the surface.
> "Focus, Marcus," Tyrese instructed calmly. "Reiki isn't just power. It's you. Your emotions. You can't run from them—you channel them."
Taking a deep breath, Marcus dug into the pit of his heart. The sharp pain of grief, the frustration of helplessness, the fury he felt when no one listened—all of it coalesced into a black fog in his mind.
Then, he felt it—a tingling warmth in his chest, followed by a cold weight in his palms. Opening his eyes, a faint black aura shimmered over his hands.
> "You did it," Geoffrey muttered, eyebrows raising. "Most recruits take weeks. He just did it in minutes."
> "His emotions are raw," Tyrese said, stepping forward. "That pain... it makes his connection to Reiki pure."
Marcus stood, watching the aura flicker around his fingers.
> "Can I shape it?" he asked.
> "Try," Tyrese said with a nod. "Start with a strike."
Focusing the energy into his right hand, Marcus imagined the aura forming a spear. It trembled—then shot out like a bolt of lightning, cracking against the reinforced wall. The force left a small scorch mark.
> "Holy crap," Marcus whispered.
> "Welcome to your first lesson," Geoffrey chuckled. "That's Reiki Strike—crude, but effective."
They trained for hours. By sunset, Marcus had learned how to:
Sense Reiki in others and the environment
Draw it from his own pain without losing control
Manifest simple strikes and a crude shield
Feel emotional auras from distant sources
Exhausted but exhilarated, he collapsed on a bench.
> "Tomorrow," Tyrese said, "we teach you refinement. You've got raw power, but Reiki is like a blade. Without discipline, it cuts you too."