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Chapter 10: The Second Heart
Cloud awoke just before dawn, when darkness still draped the city and the dim corridor lamps barely illuminated the way.
The air was cold and damp with mist, making each breath a shivering challenge.
He dressed quickly, pulling on a simple black coat, and stepped out of his room with hesitant steps, heading toward the training grounds he had been frequenting over the past three days.
The courtyard was vast, enclosed by towering stone walls. The ground was hardened dirt, and wooden posts and straw-stuffed dummies dotted the space. Dozens of the family's guards stood in neat formations, clad in light armor, practicing various weapon techniques.
Among them stood a massive man, with a silver beard and long, wavy hair. His eyes were wide, and his large hands looked as if they had been crafted to crush stone.
When he spotted Cloud lingering awkwardly at the entrance, he barked sharply:
"You the new boy? What are you standing there for? Run around the courtyard—ten laps. Don't stop until you're done!"
Cloud stiffened, anxiety gripping him.
But remembering Edward's overwhelming strength, he found within himself a surge of determination rather than hesitation.
Obeying without complaint, Cloud began to run. His heart pounded violently, his body unused to such exertion. Sweat poured from his forehead, and his breath soon became ragged, but he pushed on.
By the sixth lap, exhaustion gnawed at him mercilessly. Only his fierce willpower kept him moving—he had never pushed himself like this before.
When he finally stumbled across the tenth lap, his legs buckled beneath him. He collapsed beside a tree in the courtyard's corner, gasping for air.
Normally, the trainer wouldn't have allowed a recruit to rest so long, but seeing Cloud's perseverance—and his wretched condition—he simply turned a blind eye and let him be.
The training pressed on: push-ups, jumps, staff sparring.
Though Cloud knew nothing, he was guided by Leo, a young recruit from the family's special forces.
Leo was kind, perhaps because he himself was the youngest after Cloud, and had been assigned to help him learn the basics.
By noon, Cloud's entire body trembled with exhaustion. His hands were blistered, his knees bruised, yet he refused to fall.
"Damn it... Am I going to endure this hell every single day?"
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Cloud staggered back to his room, forced down a simple meal, and lay on his bed.
He didn't sleep.
He simply stared at the ceiling, despair creeping over him at the thought of facing the same torment again tomorrow.
As the sun set, a knock sounded at his door, followed by a familiar voice:
"Are you ready, Cloud?"
Edward stood there, wearing his usual gold-gray coat, a calm expression and a faint smile on his face.
He had come for training—the session Cloud had been looking forward to all day.
Despite the overwhelming fatigue weighing him down, Cloud rose to his feet.
After all, tonight... he would learn about the true power.
Edward led him to a secluded hall in the southern wing.
The floor was etched with strange, glowing patterns that shimmered with life when approached.
The walls were covered in swirling designs and intricate geometries that seemed to pulse with invisible energy.
Sitting cross-legged in the center of the circle, Edward gestured for Cloud to join him.
"What we're about to begin is entirely different from what you faced this morning," Edward said, his voice low and steady.
"Morning training tempers the body.
Evening training... forges your spirit and awakens your energy."
Cloud sat opposite him, listening intently as Edward continued:
"After the discovery of Origin Energy, humanity learned that every living being possesses something we call the Heart of Origin—the true source of power.
But only a rare few ever awaken it.
We call it... the Second Heart."
"The Second Heart doesn't beat with blood," Edward said. "It beats with pure energy.
If you can awaken it, you'll feel the flow of Origin Energy within you.
But to reach it, you must achieve something crucial: complete inner silence."
"Focus. Listen to your heartbeat. Let everything else fall away—pain, exhaustion, fear.
Let them all disappear."
Closing his eyes, Cloud obeyed.
He struggled to quiet his mind, but slowly, the world around him faded into nothingness.
A single thought anchored him: the image of the void from his guild entrance test.
That empty, silent space became his refuge, helping him sink deeper into meditation.
In his mind, silence ruled—until that moment the great meteor had crashed down, shattering everything.
But now, there was only stillness.
Cloud's breathing grew faint, steady and slow—almost imperceptible.
Edward, observing him, was quietly astonished.
"He really does have the gift," he thought.
Deep within the vast darkness of his consciousness, Cloud spotted a distant blue flame—a tiny spark flickering far away.
He strained toward it, struggling as if swimming across a boundless, viscous sea.
But he could see it...
And he knew with certainty: if he fought hard enough, he would reach it.
Again and again he pushed forward, and with each effort, the flame grew a little nearer, a little brighter.
It was located deep within his chest, opposite to where his true heart beat.
After relentless struggle, when he finally came close, the flame appeared immense, engulfing his senses.
He felt something warm—a strange, unprecedented pulse.
Then—
The pulse shattered his meditation, pulling him sharply back into the real world!
Edward smiled faintly.
"You saw it, didn't you?"
"It was only a glimpse... but that was your Heart of Origin."
He rose and walked away.
"We'll continue tomorrow. Don't be late."
Cloud remained sitting there, his heart pounding with a strange new rhythm, as though something deep within him had finally begun to awaken.
And he knew...
This path ahead would be brutal.
But there was no turning back now.
A surge of exhilaration filled him—an emotion he had never truly felt before.
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End of Chapter.