---
The night was still. Too still.
Yuki stirred in his sleep, his breath shallow as if something heavy pressed against his chest. Shadows flickered behind his closed eyelids—whispers, fragments of a world not bound by time or space.
And then he opened his eyes… but he wasn't in his room.
He stood in the middle of a ruined temple, the sky above a swirling mass of purple and black clouds. The air was electric, humming like a storm waiting to explode.
A familiar sensation crept through him—the void.
"You came again."
The voice echoed like a whisper inside his mind. Yuki spun around, fists clenched.
From the shadows, a figure stepped forward—tall, draped in dark robes that flickered like smoke, eyes glowing faintly through the mask of a fox.
Yuki froze. It was him.
The same presence from his dreams. The same presence from the void.
"You're not just a dream," Yuki said, his voice hoarse.
"No," the figure replied. "But I am a reflection."
"A reflection of what?"
The figure walked slowly toward him, every step making the space tremble. "Of what you could become. Of what you must become."
Yuki's eyes narrowed. "Why are you watching me?"
"I've always been with you. Since your first breath," the figure said, tilting his head. "But now… you're close."
"To what?"
The fox-masked man raised a hand, and the void around them shifted, revealing glimpses—blurs of memories Yuki didn't recognize. A burning sky. Falling stars. His own face… twisted in rage.
"To the storm," the figure said. "The real one. Not the petty battles you've faced."
Yuki's pulse quickened. "Who are you?"
The figure paused.
"I go by many names," he said. "But you'll call me what they all have."
The mask cracked slightly, showing the faintest glint of a cruel smile beneath.
"Brother."
The void shook. Yuki stumbled back.
"No. That's not possible—"
The figure raised a hand. "You'll remember when the time is right. For now, just train. Get stronger. Or you'll be nothing more than a broken shard in a storm that was meant to be yours."
Yuki's vision blurred.
"Wait!"
But the world collapsed before he could speak again.
---
Yuki gasped awake, drenched in sweat. He looked around—his room, the faint moonlight, silence.
But his heart was racing.
He touched his chest. The words echoed in his mind.
"Brother."
---
End of Chapter 32
"If you're enjoying the ride, don't forget to leave a power stone or a comment—it really helps this grow!"