Childhood Friend of the Zenith

"Hwaaaaa----."

A spectacle of petals scattering through the sky, captivating my gaze.

They bloom endlessly, as if to cover the entire gray sky and empty space with their splendor.

A field stretched across the heavens. So beautiful and pure that even my parched eyes are seized by the sight.

Even more so, knowing that these petals did not appear naturally, but were formed through someone’s will and enlightenment.

How could I not be in awe?

“Huh……”

I let out a soft, hollow breath. What is this? The petals are so beautiful that I instinctively reach out. As my fingertips carefully brush against one, it trembles lightly and slips through my fingers.

The sensation is vivid.

It felt undeniably like a real petal.

“……!”

But the moment I touched it, I couldn’t hide my shock.

“……What kind of condensation of internal energy is this?”

Each petal—one by one—contained a level of energy that was anything but ordinary. I had never witnessed such an intense level of compression before.@@novelbin@@

I recalled what Shin Noya always emphasized during his teachings.

Compression.

A martial artist’s energy is defined by how it is compressed and how it is released—wasn’t that what he had said?

As if to demonstrate those very words, Shin Noya's petals were imbued entirely with his enlightenment.

I stood there, lost in admiration.

“It’s a bit too soon to be amazed, isn’t it?”

An aged voice, laced with amusement, brushed past my ear.

“Don’t just look at the petals. Look at the roots that support them.”

At Shin Noya’s words, my gaze shifted.

His back came into view.