When the light faded, there was no sky. No sound. No ground. each of them stood alone in a void that pulsed with the rhythm of their hearts.
This was the Sanctum… a space where truth stripped away pride, and a person's Heart revealed its core.
The air hummed with power.And from the shadows, Ingram stepped forward calmly. "Welcome," he said, voice echoing like thunder across the emptiness."You stand at the edge of yourselves. What comes next will either awaken your Heart or shatter it."
The four looked at each other. No words. No hesitation.Then Shichiro stepped forward.
Shichiro's Heart of Will
In an instant. The world shifted
Shichiro was standing in the ruins of a battlefield.Blades of light pierced through the storm clouds as broken swords littered the ground.
His heart pounded.The cries of fallen warriors echoed through the wind.He knew this place every failure, every defeat he'd ever tried to forget lived here.
Ingram's voice whispered through the storm:
"You've always fought for others, Shichiro. But your will does it come from courage, or fear of letting them down?"
Shichiro's knees trembled. For a second, the storm swallowed him.Then he looked up remembering Katsu's patience, Kentarō's laughter, Rokuro's lazy grinThat was his strength. Not power. Not pride. Connection.
He raised his hand to the sky.Light surged from his chest, brighter than dawn itself.
"I fight for them," he whispered.
The storm stilled. The battlefield vanished in a blaze of gold.His Heart evolved to The Heart of Dawn
Rays of sunlight wrapped around him. He could now command light itself:to blind his enemies, heal allies, and burn through darkness with pure resolve.
Ingram smiled faintly. "You have found it, Shichiro. The light that never fades."
Kentarō's Heart of Reflection
The void twisted again. Kentarō landed in a rotting forest drenched in fog.Each breath burned; every shadow seemed to crawl toward him.
He tried to laugh. "Man… this looks fun.. Are you guys watching me?"
But his voice wavered. For once, there was no joke to hide behind.
"You fear nothing," Ingram's voice echoed. "But you do. You fear weakness your own."
A mirror appeared before him.His reflection stepped out… but it smiled back with something cold and venomous in its eyes.
Kentarō swung his sword but the reflection caught it bare-handed and pressed forward.Poison spread through his veins. His body convulsed.
"You hide behind laughter," Ingram said. "But even poison can protect if wielded by the fearless."
Kentarō grinned through the pain, eyes glowing green."Then I'll be the deadliest medicine."
Kentarō's Heart has evolved to The Heart of Venom
Katsu's Heart of Calm
Katsu stood alone atop an endless cliff.Below him, time flowed like a river made of glass every moment he'd lived flashing before his eyes.
He clenched his fists. "Time… huh. Always running out when you need it most."
"You control calm, Katsu," Ingram's voice said. "But you've never faced the chaos inside you.Can you still think clearly when time itself slips away?"
The glass river shattered. Time exploded around him memories, regrets, faces he'd tried to forget.He saw himself failing, succeeding, failing again.For once, he stopped running from it. He accepted everything.
"If time moves," he whispered, "then so will I."
The world froze.For five seconds, everything around him stopped the air, the light, even sound.Within that instant, he could act freely, command the battlefield like a god of seconds.
Katsu's Heart has evolved to The Heart of Eternity
Rokuro's Heart of Chill
Rokuro found himself, sitting on a bench at the beach, waves crashing, birds
He stepped forward, and sighed. "Guess its my turn, lets get this over with."
Sand and water quickly turned into snow and ice.
He smirked weakly. "Figures. Even my trial is tired."
"You hide behind laziness." Ingram's voice echoed. "But peace and apathy are not the same."
"Can you simply rest while everything is rushing toward you.?"
Rokuro's calm becomes absolute. The air around him drops to freezing temperatures.He can manipulate ice not just to attack, but to halt movement, seal wounds, and reflect attacks through crystalline surfaces.His domain becomes silence.
"If the world moves too fast… I'll just make it stop."
Rokuro's calm becomes absolute. The air around him drops to freezing temperatures.He can manipulate ice not just to attack, but to halt movement, seal wounds, and reflect attacks through crystalline surfaces.His domain becomes silence.
"If the world moves too fast… I'll just make it stop."
Rokuro's Heart evolved to The Heart of Glacier