The Awakening Ceremony had ended, but silence lingered like a storm's shadow.
The moment Kuro awakened his ten black Ki Hands with red patterns, the sacred altar trembled. The crimson glow that surged through the sky cracked like lightning—but then... eight of the hands vanished, leaving only two.
Two ghostly black hands, faintly burning with red embers, floated behind him.
No one spoke.
Not even Elder Genkai.
Not even the elders of the Asura Clan, seated high above the crowd in their thrones of floating jade.
And then came the laughter.
> "Ten hands... that turned to two?"
"Did the heavens change their mind midway?"
The voice belonged to Tsurugi Raian, a youth from the Heavenly Divine Sword Clan. Clad in silver robes with the emblem of a downward-pointing blade across his chest, he stood at the edge of the altar platform, arms crossed, face twisted in amusement.
> "Or perhaps," Raian said, stepping forward, "the altar realized it chose wrong."
Kuro remained still, his body weak from the awakening. Yet his eyes—those deep blood-red eyes—locked on Raian's with eerie calm.
Behind Raian, other youths of the Heavenly Divine Sword Clan followed, all with the surname Tsurugi:
Tsurugi Haka, tall and grim, with a sheathed greatsword on his back.
Tsurugi Mei, the only girl in the group, silent but her gaze sharp as blades.
And at the center, the prodigy himself—Tsurugi Tirath.
Tirath stepped forward, hands folded behind him, silver hair fluttering in the wind. His very presence carried pressure, like a sword hanging inches from the neck.
> "We witnessed a unique phenomenon today," Tirath said calmly. "First time in a century that someone awakened ten Ki Hands."
He looked at Kuro.
> "Too bad they were black."
The crowd stirred at his words. Among cultivators, black Ki Hands were considered an omen. Forbidden. Cursed. No known user had survived past early stages.
> "You mock, but you tremble," whispered Kuro.
The words slipped from his lips without thought, soft yet razor-sharp. Raian's face twitched.
Before he could respond, Elder Genkai raised his staff, slamming it to the altar.
> "Enough! The awakening is complete. All guests may leave the ceremonial ground."
The air pulsed with spiritual energy. The Heavenly Divine Sword Clan members bowed mockingly and turned to leave. Tirath's gaze lingered on Kuro for a moment longer before he too turned away.
After the Ceremony
In the Asura Clan's inner sanctum, the eight clan elders and the Clan Head, Kuro's father, sat in a circle. Kuro knelt in the center, his robes torn, breathing uneven.
> "Ten hands. All black. Red pattern. Then eight vanish?" Elder Rei asked.
> "This is not normal," said Elder Hanzo. "Such a thing has never occurred."
> "The Ki altar only shows what it receives. Something blocked the hands."
> "Or stole them," muttered the Clan Head, Asura Daisuke, his voice barely audible.
He stared at Kuro, unreadable.
> "What do you remember, child?"
Kuro was silent for a moment. Then:
> "There was... a voice. Before the altar lit up."
The elders leaned forward.
> "It whispered. Not in words, but... hunger. Like it had waited long to awaken."
> "And your hands?"
> "I saw all ten. I felt their power. Each one... was heavy. Violent. But then, eight burned and disappeared—like torn from me."
> "Did they burn out, or were they taken?" Elder Genkai asked.
Kuro did not answer. He couldn't.
Something had taken them. Something ancient. And it still lingered inside him—watching, waiting.
Whispers of Power
That night, as the moon rose, Kuro stood alone at the edge of a floating cliff. Below him stretched the lights of the Asura Clan's inner sanctum, its towers carved into mountain sides, its walkways glowing with spirit runes.
The two black hands hovered faintly behind him. Red veins pulsed through them like cracks on obsidian.
> "You should not exist," he whispered to them.
They flickered in response, not with aggression—but with mourning.
Suddenly, he sensed movement behind him.
> "You made the altar cry," said a voice.
It was Asura Kaien, the sixth son, who rarely spoke to him.
> "They fear you now."
Kuro turned slightly. "You don't?"
Kaien shrugged. "I fear only lies. And something tells me you've just started telling the truth."
He walked away, leaving Kuro to the wind and the stars.