Paradoxicality

Chapter 6

Morning mist clung to the ruins like a shroud. Dew slicked every stone surface, reflecting the pale sunlight in fractured glimmers. Sakura sat cross-legged in the clearing, spine straight, palms resting lightly atop her knees. Her eyes were closed, though her mind raced with restless thought.

Calm down. Breathe in and out. Imagine the spiritual energy like fiber galanet. Focus your mind.

(Galanet: The term "internet" has been replaced first with "solsysnet" by the year 2200, when humanity can now freely explore the solar system and conquer the planets and then replaced to "galanet" by the year 2345, the same year when humanity expanded its territories within the Milky Way galaxy)

Renji, sprawled on the grass opposite her, copying her posture. He tried to meditate just like her. But not long after a minute, he became a bit restless and peeked through one eye. "So, uh, how long are we supposed to sit here before we magically turn into qi-cultivating masters?"

Sakura didn't open her eyes, focusing on feeling the spiritual energy within her. "Meditation isn't about how fast you become strong. It's about concentration."

He groaned. "Concentration's boring."

"Then you'll stay weak. Now focus. Remember, cultivators do not necessarily worry about time as their own lifespans will only increase through continuous cultivation."

Her bluntness stung, though she wasn't wrong. He huffed but straightened his posture, mimicking her stance with exaggerated seriousness. "Fine. Watch me become the number one cultivator of the Renji Sect."

She smirked despite herself but forced her focus inward again.

The idea was simple: harness the strange new energy pulsing in their veins, spread it throughout their meridians, and gather it all into their dantian. The reality, however, was far more difficult.

Sakura envisioned her power the way she always had—like fiber galanet-like threads spun from her dreams. But as she reached for them, she found her head throbbing, her chest tightening, as if the air itself pushed back against her will. A flicker of light danced between her palms before sputtering out.

Her breath hitched, both from exhaustion and shock.

Renji cracked an eye again. "Hey, that looked like progress."

"Not enough," she muttered, clutching her knees.

After a short break to gather her own breath, she was about to resume meditating when Renji opened his eyes again and groaned in frustration. "Ugh. How did you manage to release such energy from your body? Care to share with the class?"

"What I did was imagine the spiritual energy as something similar to fiber galanet. We have these galanet-like energies within our body. I also imagine that we have a stored spiritual energy within our bodies, though I still don't know yet whether it is located in the heart or the brain. I'll still need to do continuous meditation to be able to fully observe as to where they are exactly located. I not only imagine what it might look like, but also remember the feeling of that rush of power when we used our abilities to attack that Beast yesterday."

She then pointed to her own acupuncture points in her body. "I used the method of distributing and spreading the energy to our meridians like pathways, connecting them through our acupuncture points, and finally," she points to her stomach part, "gather them around here in the dantian from the various cultivation and murim novels that I'd read throughout the years. It actually worked wonders, although I still cannot have them gathered to my dantian yet. It only stopped at one of the acupuncture points, but I don't know yet which one."

Renji's eyes twinkled in wonder as he slowly clapped his hands in amazement. "Amazing. Woman, if I didn't know better, I would say that you're actually a cultivator or murim warrior in hiding from how you discovered it and explained it to me."

"Alrighty. I shall do just that. I'll be able to gather these energy thingy in no time!" he said excitedly. Both of them resumed back to meditating, Renji following Sakura's advice.

By midday, they shifted from meditation to physical conditioning. Renji insisted on "balance," which meant running laps around the ruins, climbing the broken arches, and even sparring with sticks.

"Your shield's great," he said between swings, "but if something gets through, you need to move fast enough not to die. Rule one of Renji's training manual: don't die."

She parried his stick awkwardly, her arms aching. "Your training manual is obvious."

"Obviously, it works," he lunged.

She barely dodged, instinctively summoning a flash of light that staggered him. For a moment, they both froze.

Renji blinked rapidly, dazzled. "Okay. Cheap shot. But cool cheap shot."

"Unintentional," she admitted. Still, the idea lodged itself in her mind: her power wasn't limited to shields. Only her own dreams and imaginations limit it.

That night, they sat by the fire again, sweat-damp and exhausted. The flames painted Sakura's face in warm tones, but Renji noticed the way silver glinted brighter in her hair, no longer just a strand but a lock.

He didn't mention it.

Mostly because he had his own secret: when he'd fallen earlier, his rewind hadn't just shifted him back two seconds—it had reset his position by five. He'd felt his bones ache, like his body resisted being rewound too far. Even now, his vision swam faintly turquoise at the edges.

They were changing. And they both knew it.

"Do you think," Renji asked softly, poking the fire, "that we're turning into what your dad wanted?"

Sakura stiffened. She hated how the question lingered, unspoken, between them ever since their powers manifested.

"… I think so." Her voice was quiet. "But we don't have the luxury of rejecting it. If these powers are what keep us alive, then we should use them. No matter what."

Renji's grin was faint, but it didn't reach his eyes. "That's… actually dark."

"Reality has always been dark, anyway."

Days blurred into a rhythm. Morning meditations. Foraging. Exercising. Sparring. Experimentation.

Sakura refined her shields—learning to make them thinner, sharper, less draining. Once, she even managed to manifest two at once, though she fainted right after.

Renji pushed his rewinds further, testing how much time he could claw back. Three seconds. Four. Five—before collapsing with a nosebleed and a pounding migraine.

Both of them bled, bruised, and stumbled through trial and error. Yet with each failure, their endurance inched higher. Their instincts sharpened.

And each time they caught their reflections in the stream, subtle differences greeted them.

Silver spread wider in Sakura's hair. Her right eye sometimes shimmered lapis blue when she called her powers. Sometimes, her left eye glowed slightly into molten gold before it returned to its original azure color.

Renji's pupils gleamed turquoise more often now, faint but undeniable, his irises glowing like distant stars.

Neither admitted aloud how much it frightened them.

On the seventh day, they followed the stream farther downstream, hoping to find new food sources. The jungle thinned until the ground broke into a jagged ravine. Mist curled from below, cool and damp against their skin.

Renji leaned over the edge, whistling. "That's a long way down. Bet even my rewind can't save me if I fall there."

Sakura ignored him, her gaze caught on the opposite side. Beyond the fog, half-obscured, stood angular silhouettes—stone walls, towers, faintly lit windows.

Her breath caught. "… Renji, look ahead."

He followed her gaze. His grin faltered. "Wait. Are those… buildings?"

Lantern-light flickered through the haze. Voices carried faintly in the wind—too distant to decipher, but undeniably human.

Sakura's heart pounded. "Civilization."

Renji's jaw dropped. "Well damn. You were right. We're not alone."

But just as relief surged, a chill followed. Because woven between those distant voices came a sound both of them knew too well.

A low, guttural roar.

Renji's smile died. "… You've gotta be kidding me."

Sakura's fists clenched at her sides, silver hair gleaming in the moonlight.

They had found people at last. But so had the Beast.