Chapter 48: Bloom in the Fire
The air in the training grounds shimmered—not from heat, but from pure soul pressure.
Karen stood on one knee, her arms trembling, the Abyss Scythe grounded beside her like an anchor. Her breathing was shallow, labored, but her eyes still burned with that stubborn, unyielding defiance that had carried her this far.
Across from her, Rose Ikemba's silhouette stood like a living flame. The shaped armor of her Heart of Flames domain glinted like molten steel in the morning sun, heatless but lethal.
"You're hovering just beneath the Third Spirit Cycle," Rose said flatly, pacing a slow circle around Karen. "That makes you better than most your age, better than half the Soulborne initiates back on the Island."
Karen blinked up at her, uncertain whether that was praise or warning.
Rose stopped walking. "But don't get comfortable. This training won't stop until you achieve the Sixth Cycle."
Karen's fingers twitched around her scythe. "…That's impossible. People spend years chasing the Fourth, let alone—"
"Then they die slow," Rose interrupted sharply. "Or worse—live long enough to watch their power fail someone they love."
A silence fell. Karen's jaw clenched.
Rose stepped closer and crouched to meet her gaze. "You have potential, yes. Your Shadow Bloom domain? It's rare. Beautiful. But right now, it's an unfinished sketch. Half a song. You want it to protect the people you care about?"
Karen nodded wordlessly.
"Then sharpen it. Shape it. Master it." Rose stood again, letting her own flames flicker around her form before suddenly—they coalesced, reshaping into curved sabers, shoulder plates, boots, and a bladed crown of fire.
She became a living war-goddess.
"This is the difference between casting and commanding your domain."
Karen looked at her own proto domain: petals of darkness swirling half-formed around her. They were reactive, emotional, chaotic.
"Try again," Rose said. "Form your construct. Let your will mold your shadow bloom."
Karen closed her eyes. Focused.
Petals gathered, shadows thickened, and the scythe began to shimmer—its shape changing. The petals wrapped along her shoulders, curved down her back—like a cape of darkness blooming mid-combat.
Her abyss scythe morphed, slightly. Sleeker. More angular. The blade flickered with sentient shadow.
But just as it settled—Rose struck.
A flicker—and her flaming blade was already swinging at Karen's blind spot.
Clang—!
Karen barely blocked it, but her form cracked under the pressure. Her constructed domain dissolved.
"You're still thinking defensively," Rose said, backing off. "A shaped domain isn't just protection. It's strategy embodied. Your instincts must be faster than your thoughts."
Karen panted, sweat trailing down her brow. "You're… fighting me with only a Sixth Cycle's output?"
Rose smirked faintly. "Would you prefer Seventh?"
Karen stood again, breath steadying, her shadow petals swirling once more. "No. Don't hold back."
"Good," Rose said, resetting her stance. "Because next time I swing, I won't aim to train."
Karen narrowed her gaze. Her domain thickened.
And in the distance, even the hardened Soul Reapers paused momentarily, sensing the sharpening storm behind the training walls.
The Red Sovereign had declared war—and her apprentice was finally answering.