The next day was quiet.
Ren woke up early. The sky was soft and blue. Birds were singing like nothing strange had ever happened. But he knew something had changed. Deep inside, it still felt like something was humming. Like something was waiting.
He walked to the field where the others were training.
As usual, kids were practicing their moves. Some were swinging wooden swords. Others were trying to control small sparks of spirit energy. The older ones could already float a little in the air.
Ren sat on a rock nearby, watching them. He didn't have any of that. No sword, no glow, no power.
But... he had felt something yesterday.
Something inside him.
He touched his chest.
Still normal.
But not really.
"Still trying to act cool?" a voice said.
Ren turned. It was Asuka. She was always a little too sharp with her words, but never in a mean way.
"You didn't speak your Name," she said, sitting next to him. "But you're not hiding in your house crying. That's new."
Ren smiled. "Not crying. Just... thinking."
Asuka raised an eyebrow. "Thinking about what?"
Ren paused. Should he tell her? The bell, the strange voice, the weird warmth in his chest?
"Just stuff," he said.
Asuka didn't push. She just looked up at the clouds. "Well, if you ever do speak your Name... I want to be there."
Ren blinked. "Why?"
She shrugged. "Because I think it's going to be something no one's heard before."
That afternoon, Ren went back to the temple.
No one was there.
The wind was light. The chimes moved a little, but made no sound. The bell stood still. Old and quiet.
Ren stood in front of it again. This time, he didn't touch it.
He just stared.
"I didn't ring you," he said quietly. "So why did it feel like I did?"
The wind moved again. A small breeze. Just enough to make a scroll tied to the roof flap open.
Ren looked at it.
The scroll had no writing.
Blank.
He stepped closer. As he did, a single word began to appear on the paper—written in glowing ink.
"Yours."
Ren stared.
That was it. Just one word.
He didn't know what it meant. But it felt... right. Like the wind was speaking in a way only he could understand.
He took a step back.
The bell still didn't ring.
But something was ringing inside him now. Soft. Steady. Like a tiny drum that had just started to play for the first time.
Ren turned to leave, but stopped and looked back.
"I don't have a Name," he said softly. "But maybe... I'll make my own."
To be continued...